A Heart to Hold
by Sal67548
Summary: This is a story with miscellaneous scenes and added deviations in Zero and Yuki's perspectives.
1. Chapter 1: Zero's Perspective

_**I do not own Vampire Knight or any characters involved.**_

A scream. Blood everywhere. A grinning demon who smiled at me as she came nearer. I was backed into a corner. There was nowhere to go—

I sat up in bed with a start. Sweat drenched my body and I couldn't calm my breathing. I slowly brought the back of my hand up to my glistening forehead and wiped away the moisture collected there. I sighed in frustration. This was the third time this week that I had had this dream.

My breathing finally back to a normal rate, I lifted the covers off of my body and got out of bed, walking to the bathroom adjoining my room. As I looked in the mirror and saw my face, I sighed.

My silver hair was a mess and my lavender eyes were decorated with dark circles. My skin was still damp from my nightmare as well as the skin on my bare chest. I splashed cold water on my face and hair and dried myself with a towel. Walking out of the bathroom, I glanced at the clock on my nightstand and groaned as I read the numbers that told me I should not be awake at this ungodly hour.

Climbing back into my bed, I closed my eyes and attempted to convince sleep to come to me. Though my eyes were closed, behind them I could see a memory as clear as if it were happening in front of me.

_The night was four years ago. It was just shortly after his parents had been killed by the Pureblood vampire Shizuka, and his twin brother had betrayed him. He had been having a nightmare, similar to the one he had just had, and he had woken up with a start. He had been shaking violently. He had thought fleetingly about going to Yuki's room. She was a little like his adoptive sister, but there had always been more of a "best friends" kind of aura when it came to them. He had quickly rejected the thought of going to her. This was his problem and he shouldn't trouble her with such petty things. _

_ However, against all odds, there had been a timid knock at his bedroom door right then. Miraculously, Yuki had stepped in. "I had a nightmare…do you mind if I stay here tonight?" she had asked innocently, her doe eyes pleading. He remembered thinking it was strange that she didn't seem to be flustered at all, but he had nodded and moved over to let her crawl into the bed beside him. As she had lain down, he had rested his head on her shoulder and said "Don't worry, it was only a dream," more to himself than to her. She had sighed contentedly and gently started stroking his head. He had felt so comforted by her in that moment that he allowed himself a tiny smile as he drifted off to sleep with his head on her shoulder and her fingers lightly playing with his hair. _

I opened my eyes, startled by a sound in the hallway. It was the soft padding of feet that could only belong to Yuki; the only other person it could be was the chairman, and for him to have been that quiet would have been just shy of a miracle. I made a split-second decision to fake sleep. I knew that if she were to come in and find me awake, it would be very hard to keep myself from asking her to stay, and the headmaster had long before made it clear to us that it was wildly inappropriate for young adults of opposite sexes to be sharing a bed.

I heard a slow creak as the door was opened a crack. "Zero…?" I heard her whisper at the door. When I didn't answer, she softly stepped into my room and tiptoed across the floor, coming to stand near my bed. I opened my eyes a crack to see what she was doing.

Yuki was looking at me with a sweet smile, a look that was almost tender in her large brown eyes. She carefully tucked a loose strand of her shoulder-length brown hair behind her ear and gently pulled the blankets covering me up closer around my neck, tucking me in. She carefully brushed my unruly bangs out of my eyes and I wasn't able to help the soft, contented sigh that came from my lips from escaping. Dropping her slender arm back at her side, Yuki whispered "Goodnight, Zero" almost inaudibly. I smiled, already drifting off to sleep, as she made her way to the door and slipped out into the hallway, quietly shutting the door behind her.


	2. Chapter 2: Yuki's Perspective

**_I do not own Vampire Knight of any of the characters involved_**.

I was in the kitchen making breakfast as Zero walked in, looking like a he had been recently run over by a semi. His hair was disheveled and his eyelids were drooping from lack of sleep. He had neglected to put on a shirt again. I sighed internally but smiled at him.

"Good morning, I'm making breakfast," I stated simply.

"More like burning breakfast," he grumbled as he wrinkled his nose and plopped down in a kitchen chair. I was not amused.

"I'm sorry, but I don't see you trying to cook anything," I said crossing my arms in front of me. He didn't look up. Well someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I tried a different approach.

"Did you sleep well?" I asked innocently, although I knew that he had not; he had stirred all night in his sleep.

"Does it look like I did?" He asked grouchily. I didn't reply.

Zero was a complicated person. It made me really sad, but he barely ever smiled. He didn't have many good friends and spent all of his time either on patrol with me or sulking somewhere. Ever since I had first met him four years ago, the night his parents had been killed, he had been very closed-off and often seemed angry or annoyed. Some days I felt as if I didn't even know him at all.

"Would you like some help?" came Zero's voice from right beside me. I jumped, surprised at the proximity. He was very stealthy.

"Uh…yeah, thanks," I said, catching my breath.

He worked effortlessly, saving the unappetizing-looking rice and curry I had been attempting to make and rapidly turning them into a delicious meal. I watched him as he worked, marveling at his culinary skill.

"See? This is why you cook and I eat it," I said with a smile.

"Hope you like your curry spicy," he said, handing me a plate with the finished rice and curry.

We sat down to eat in silence. To many, it may have seemed uncomfortable, but to Zero and I, it was companionable. We didn't need to say anything to feel comfortable. Despite him being difficult to get along with for most people, he had a kind heart. I knew from the little things he would do for me from time to time. If not for those, I may have thought he hated me, but I was reassured again and again by his small gestures.

As we were finishing up our meal, my adoptive father (and Zero's too, though he would never let it stand if I called him that) came practically bouncing into the room. The first thing he noticed was Zero's lack of clothing. "Young man you are in the presence of a lady! Have some decency and put a shirt on!" I stole a glance at Zero to see his reaction. He looked up from his quickly diminishing food long enough to roll his eyes at the headmaster and got up from the table, pushing his plate and silverware away from the edge with a loud clatter. I watched him until he disappeared upstairs.

"You really shouldn't allow him to be so indecent Yuki. You are my sweet innocent little girl, after all!" the headmaster chirped. I sighed, trying not to show my impatience. "I really don't mind, headmaster. I'm glad he feels so comfortable around me."

As I talked, his face had fallen at my use of his formal title. "Call me dad," he said in a whining voice as his large eyes filled with tears. Just then Zero walked back into the kitchen, now fully clothed in the day class boy's school uniform.

"Come on Yuki, we're gonna be late," he said as he grabbed my forearm and tugged me gently in the direction of the door. I thought of resisting, but quickly disregarded the idea. He would just pull me along behind him like I wasn't using any strength at all. I gave up and stood up to follow him to class.


	3. Chapter 3: Zero's Perspective

_**I do not own Vampire Knight or any of the characters involved.**_

As I dragged Yuki along behind me, my mind wandered. I was thinking about how Yuki had come into my room the night before. I really wanted to ask her about what had made her do it, and how she always seemed to know exactly what I needed. I decided against it. If she ever found out I had been faking sleep, she would be angry with me and embarrassed. Although I loved to embarrass her on account of how adorable she looked when she blushed, I did not particularly want her angry with me.

"Zero, are you listening? I said you're hurting me!" Yuki yelled at me, instantly pulling my mind back to the present. I realized I had been dragging her along this whole time and quickly released my grip. "Sorry Yuki, I wasn't thinking. Are you alright?" I asked calmly, though what I really wanted to do was take her fragile wrist in my hands and make sure I hadn't really hurt her. I had to be more careful. Not only was I exceptionally strong, since I wasn't exactly human, but Yuki seemed very delicate and fragile to me. Though I would never tell her, I was always very aware of even the smallest amount of strength I had to use when I was with her.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. It's probably not even bruised," she stated. I sighed quietly in relief. I could always tell when she was telling the truth.

We arrived at our classroom just as the teacher had started asking the students to quiet down. Yuki went to sit next to her friend and fellow day class student Yori while I took my usual seat in the back row. It was time to sleep.

* * *

I was rudely awakened from my nap when someone started rapping on the table my head was resting on. Without looking up, I growled, "What do you want?"

To my surprise, the voice that answered was Yori's. "Yuki told me to let you know that she went to see Kaname Kuran, but that she will be back in time for patrol tonight, and that you should just start without her," she said matter-of-factly. Although I didn't consider Yori a friend, I did admire the fact that she didn't seem to be anxious around me like most other girls were.

"Why didn't she just wake me up and tell me herself?" I asked, although I already knew the answer. Yori seemed to think the same thing. "Why don't you tell me?" she said, raising her eyebrows waiting for an answer. When I didn't give her one, she sighed and rolled her eyes. "It's probably because you always get so nasty when she goes to see the night class students, Zero," she stated.

I snorted, conveying that she was way off, although in reality she was spot on. I could act like I didn't care easily, but on the inside I was burning with jealousy. I hated myself for it.

"Well, anyways, I'll see you later," Yori said over her shoulder as she began to walk out of the classroom. She didn't wait for a reply, most likely because she knew I wouldn't give her one.

* * *

After hearing where Yuki had gone, my mood was soured. I quickly got up from my seat and put my legs on autopilot. They knew where to take me without me even having to think about it.

Ten minutes later, I arrived at the only place on campus that I could count on not being disturbed. As I walked into the stable, I continued straight down the long aisle filled with horses, all of them snorting in discomfort at having a vampire so close to them, until I got to the very last stall on the left, the stall of White Lily.

Lily was as beautiful as she was ill-tempered. Her white coat was lustrous and her mane and tail were flowing and pearly. Her face was delicately made and her eyes were a deep brown that seemed hold answers. However, aside from me, no one, horse or human, dared disturb her. I had once seen her rear up at a boy who had walked too close to her nose and pummeled him to the ground with her hard hooves. She was considered untrainable.

However, for whatever reason, she had decided to take me under her wing. I remembered the first time I had seen her.

_ I had run away from the headmaster's home after Kaname Kuran had come to visit Yuki. I always left when he was over. I had stumbled across the campus stables quite by chance, as I had not been living with the headmaster long enough to know the grounds. Curious, I had been about to enter the building when I heard a scream. At the time, I had registered it as a human scream and acted on impulse. I had run towards the sound around the back of the stable only to see a white mare, barely more than a filly herself, rearing up at a large grey wolf snarling and baring its massive fangs. I had stopped in my tracks as a trace of white caught my eye on the ground near her._

_ I had gasped as I realized what it was. A tiny white foal, no doubt belonging to the crazed mare, was lying on the ground in a pool of blood. Without thinking I had grabbed a branch off the ground near me and ran yelling towards the grey wolf. He slowly turned his toothy grin on me and looked straight into my eyes before turning to bound away into the woods. I had dropped the branch on the ground and ran towards the fallen foal. Although the mare had made it clear she didn't want me there with her flared nostrils and pinned-back ears, she tolerated my presence, perhaps realizing that I was now her only hope. _

_ Examining the foal, I had quickly realized he needed medical attention. Carefully hoisting the tiny colt over my shoulders, I took off at a brisk walk towards the stable door. The mare snorted, making it clear she would rather be doing almost anything other than following me. _

_ After setting the foal down on the straw in the last stall on the left, I had run to get the first aid kit from the front of the barn. As I was running back, the mare had whinnied restlessly, nudging her baby with her soft nose. I had run back into the stall just in time to see the foal's labored breathing hitch a couple times just before he drew his last breath. _

_ I stood in shock, tears brimming in my eyes as the young mother sniffed her foal, nudging him again and again. When he didn't move, she let out a mournful whinny, one of the saddest sounds I had ever heard. She had lain down in the straw with the lifeless colt, and the life seemed to be drained from her as well. _

_ Without thinking I had rushed to the mare, throwing my arms around her warm neck which was still drenched with sweat from her struggle with the wolf. The mare hadn't even flinched. I sat back and looked at her. In her eyes was a sadness so complete that I felt my throat constrict with barely contained tears again._

_ "Me too…" I whispered to the horse. "I lost my family too because of a heartless beast. I'm sorry…I'm so sorry I couldn't save yours," I finished, a single tear escaping from my eyes._

_ Sensing my distress, she had snorted softly out her nose and looked in my eyes before nuzzling my cheek with her velvet nose, as if to say "I forgive you". From then on, I had known this mare and I would be friends. _

I was snapped back to the present as Lily stomped her right hoof on the ground, demanding that I stop standing there and pay attention to her. I couldn't help but smile at the impatient mare. It had now been almost four years since I had met her, only a couple months after I had come to live with the headmaster at Cross Academy. She had been only four then, still a filly in horse years. Now she was a fully grown mare.

"You would think after all this time you would learn to be more patient," I said fondly to the mare. She snorted at me, clearly disagreeing. I pulled a carrot stub out of my jean pocket and held it out to her. She looked at me crossly, but gingerly took the vegetable in her teeth and ate it. "I know you would prefer milk, but the groom told me if I give you any more, you are going to be so fat you won't be able to walk," I stated with amusement. Shortly after the accident with her young foal, I had discovered that Lily loved cow's milk. Ever since then, I secretly brought her some whenever I could.

Suddenly I heard a scuffling at the front of the stable. Thinking it to be the groom, I ignored it hoping he would go away, but the footsteps came closer and closer until whoever it was was right outside Lily's stall. If the sound hadn't given the person's presence away Lily's pinned-back ears and low, threatening whicker would have. I turned around to tell him to get the hell out and found myself facing Yuki.

Of course she would know I was here. This is where I always went when I was sulking, and she knew it. I internally cursed for not thinking of that.

"What do you want?" I snapped, only slightly regretting my tone when a hurt look flashed across her eyes.

"I just wanted to let you know that I was back, and that it was almost time for supper," she said, eyes downcast. I was about to say something snarky when I heard Lily gnashing her teeth behind me.

"Yuki, get out, she could hurt you," I said, hoping for once she would listen to me. I would never understand why this mare chose to accept me, who wasn't even human, and reject this timid, kind girl. Yuki took a couple steps back. Patting Lily on the neck, I walked out of the stall and slid the barred door closed behind me. I continued walking, taking large strides down the center aisle. Yuki, realizing that I was leaving ran to catch up to me.

About ten feet outside of the stable, I sighed softly and slowed my pace ever so slightly so that Yuki could catch up to me. Before I had time to think, I felt her tiny arms curl around my waist and her cheek pressing against the back of my shirt. I stopped in my tracks, intentionally relaxing my muscles to allow her to be able to control my movement so that I wouldn't hurt her by dragging her behind me at all.

We stood like that for a minute, her breathing in my scent and me trying to control my runaway thoughts. Though Yuki never meant it, the close contact with her small frame did strange things to my body. I felt blood rushing to places other than my heated cheeks, and my breathing hitched a little. I cleared my throat hoping it would clear my head as well and broke the silence.

"What did Kuran want?" I asked through gritted teeth. Yuki, realizing that her arms were still attached around my waist, let go and took a step back, allowing me to turn around, my arms crossed, glaring intensely at her. One look at me and she quickly looked down, arms crossed around her stomach as if for protection.

"Nothing, it doesn't matter," she said quietly. I wanted so badly to ask her _what if it does matter to me? _

_ What if you are all I ever think about and the fact that you were with him cuts me deep? _

_ What if you are the only thing in my life that I couldn't live without?_

I said nothing.

Yuki was not just my closest friend and in truth one of my only friends. She was the sole person in this world that I could truly say I loved. My parents and my brother had already been taken from me, and no one else had ever really given a damn about what happened to me. She was the only one who paid any attention to what I needed. And because of that, I could never let her know the true me and how I felt. If she ever found out the monster I really was, she would turn away from me for good. It was selfish, but that was not a price I was willing to pay for being honest with her. I couldn't even bear to think of what she would do if she ever realized that a monster like me was in love with her.

"Hey Zero?" Yuki said suddenly, breaking the silence that had come between us. I looked down at her expectantly, waiting for her to tell me what was on her mind. Her brows were furrowed and her pink lips were pursed in a tiny frown.

"…never mind," she said after a moment, apparently having thought better of saying whatever it was she had intended to. I sighed in annoyance.

"You always do that," I said irritably. She looked up at me, evidently surprised. "What?" she said innocently.

"That. Start to say something, and then leave me hanging," I said.

Of all things, she laughed. It was a sound that simultaneously stole my breath and stilled my heart. "You're right, I do tend to do that," she mused, still smiling. Looking up at me, still smiling, she asked me, "Are you ready to go?"

I nodded . Without a thought about what it would invoke in me, she grasped my hand, curling her tiny fingers around my large ones, and I let her tug me along back to the headmaster's quarters where we were to have supper, all the while wishing that she would never let go of my hand again.


	4. Chapter 4: Yuki's Perspective

_**I do not own Vampire Knight or any of the characters involved.**_

It was cold. I hadn't realized how late it was. I hadn't thought about the fact that by the time I visited Lord Kaname and found Zero, it would already be pretty late. The sun had been rapidly setting and as the heat vanished, the cold fall air seeped in to take its place. I shivered, trying to hold my jaws together so my teeth couldn't be heard chattering.

"Yuki, for heaven's sake, just take my jacket," Zero said, releasing my hand to unbutton his school uniform jacket. Before he could slide it off, I reached up to put my hand on his shoulder.

"No, you'll be freezing," I said, shivering. He rolled his eyes and unexpectedly, a rare smile graced his features. Evidently his mood had lightened. I didn't know what I had done, but I wanted him to keep smiling.

"And what kind of a friend would I be if I let you freeze to death out here? I'll be fine, I promise," he said, shrugging my hand off his shoulder and taking off the jacket. He then placed it on my shoulders, helping my arms through the sleeves, and buttoned it up for me. I squirmed.

"Yuki. Hold still," he said, and I heard some hint of strain in his voice, which made me go still immediately. What was so straining about buttoning buttons? He straightened and waited for me to take the lead again.

"Thanks Zero, but you know I could've buttoned it myself," I said, putting my hands on my hips to show that I didn't need help.

"I know," he said simply, and smiled gently. It was moments like these when I got a glimpse of insight into how much he cared about me. I smiled back at him, and took his hand in mine again, starting to walk. As we walked, my mind was elsewhere, remembering my childhood with him.

_I t was the summer after Zero had come to live with us. It was a beautiful day, warm and sunny, and I had decided to take a walk around campus. I loved looking at the birds in their nests and the flowers blooming in the fields. I had stumbled across a clearing in the middle of a grove of apple trees. There was a single apple tree in the middle of the clearing, taller than the rest. I saw a delicious-looking red apple that I thought I could probably reach. I had stretched my arm up, trying to get my fingers around the juicy apple. When it became clear that I was too short to grab it, I had tried jumping a few times, attempting to hit the apple with my hand to cause it to fall. I was startled by laughing somewhere behind me. _

_ I had whipped around to see Zero leaning against one of the tree trunks surrounding the clearing. He was smiling at me, and I didn't like it. I had known he was laughing at my inability to get the apple. He thought I was a clumsy girl. I stuck my tongue out at him and turned around with my chin in the air, more determined than ever to get the apple. As I had been about to jump again, I was suddenly uprooted from the ground and placed on top of broad shoulders. _

_ "Let me help you," said Zero from under me. Ignoring him, I had grabbed the apple which was now quite reachable and tried to climb off his shoulders. He knelt down so that I wouldn't fall. When I was safely on the ground, he turned to face me. Still holding the apple, I had crossed my arms and frowned at him. _

_ "I could've done it myself, you know. I'm not just a clumsy girl," I said irritably, refusing to look him in the eyes. _

_ "I know," he said to me, smiling gently and looking kindly into my eyes, which were now turned on him, full of questions. I couldn't help but smile back up at him._

My memories and the comforting smell on the jacket I was wearing, the scent I associated with Zero, had me in my own world, not paying attention until I ran headfirst into something, just as I heard a panicked, "Yuki!" from beside me. Dazed, I looked up to see what I had run into. I blushed.

My forehead was stopped inches in front of what I had run into, Zero's palm, which was in front of the beam of the doorway into the headmaster's home. I slowly looked up to see Zero looking down at me, an annoyed look on his face.

"Yuki why don't you try watching where you're going? If I hadn't gotten my hand between you and the door post in time you'd probably have a cracked skull right now. And you would be bleeding," he said, his last sentence more quiet than the rest.

"I wouldn't have a cracked skull. That's ridiculous," I said, crossing my arms and lashing out to cover up my embarrassment. With my nose in the air I walked in, making sure to avoid the door post this time. I heard a frustrated noise from behind me as Zero followed me in and closed the door after us.


	5. Chapter 5: Zero's Perspective

**_I do not own Vampire Knight of any of the characters involved._**

After a rather strained dinner, I excused myself and walked upstairs to my room. In truth I guess it wasn't really my room anymore, but my childhood room. I had moved into the boy's dorm when I started high school, but many nights I chose to stay here, as did Yuki in her childhood room. For me, knowing Yuki was right down the hall and that I could easily protect her was the draw, though I couldn't fathom why she chose to stay here some nights.

I headed straight to the bathroom, which adjoined my room, but also opened into the hallway, as it was the only bathroom in the small house. The three of us had to share it. Making sure there was no one inside, I walked in and locked both doors. Taking a little tablet of pills from my pocket, I freed one from the wrapping and dropped it in a large disposable cup, filling it with water from the sink and waiting for the pill to dissolve.

Today had been especially hard. It had been hard to be close to Yuki. The sound of her blood pumping as I had stood behind her this morning to help her with breakfast, the scent of her as I buttoned up my jacket over her shivering form, her almost hitting her head on the doorframe and causing her blood to escape…I quickly realized that although these were everyday things that were happening, it was getting harder and harder to control my lust for her blood.

The blood tablet was ready. I wrinkled my nose at its smell, so unlike real blood, the blood I craved, and threw back my head to choke down the vile liquid. I could feel it gag me on the way down and churn in my stomach. It seemed it lasted for increasingly shorter amounts of time as time went on. I sighed, throwing the cup in the trash and unlocking the bathroom doors. I didn't bother to wash out the cup. The headmaster knew my repulsive secret, and Yuki was human and wouldn't be able to smell the subtle scent.

I walked back into my bedroom and sat down on my bed, my thoughts going back to dinner. Yuki had stayed cold towards me throughout the whole meal, probably to cover up her embarrassment at almost running into the door post, and the headmaster had been annoying as ever, constantly trying to spark a conversation which neither one of us wanted to have with the other. I sighed. She could be so stubborn sometimes.

A sound caught my attention. Footsteps up the stairs, in the direction of my room. I could tell who it was by the loud sound they made on the wood floor. The headmaster opened my door without knocking and let himself in, shutting the doorway behind him.

"Don't you ever knock?" I asked, annoyed at the intrusion. He ignored my question and started asking me one of his own.

"Zero, have you taken a blood tablet yet today?" he asked me seriously. This annoyed me to no end.

"Listen, you don't need to check up on me. Don't you think I would know when I need to take one? Why are you asking me this anyway?" I said, barely contained anger in my voice.

Unfazed by my tone, he continued. "After you left the table, Yuki told me that she had almost run into the doorframe and you stopped her with your hand, yelling about a broken skull and blood. I just wanted to check that you had it under control. You know the consequences if you aren't able to control yourself," he said. It wasn't a question.

"Yes," I growled, "Now get out. I have homework to do."

Sighing, he retreated from my room and closed the door behind him, taking the stairs two at a time to the kitchen.

About an hour later, I had finished my assignments and was just packing them up when I was surprised to hear a knock on my door. I hadn't heard anyone coming. It was without a doubt Yuki, as the headmaster never knocked.

"Come in," I said calmly. As she walked in holding my jacket, I tried to guage if she was still annoyed with me.

"I…still have your jacket. I was just thinking…you might need it…you know, tomorrow…so…here," she said, walking over to hang it in my mostly empty closet. So she still thought I was mad at her. As if I had ever been mad at her.

She turned around, looking at me, as if waiting for me to say something. I knew what that meant. She needed something, and was too shy to ask.

"What do you need, Yuki?" I asked, sparing her from asking me. She looked relieved at my understanding of her.

"Well I was working on the assignment we got today and…" she let her sentence trail off, implying that it hadn't been going so well. I looked at my alarm clock on my nightstand, seeing that we still had an hour until we needed to start patrol for the night. Since it was a Monday, we hadn't had patrol this morning due to no night classes on the weekend. I was less than eager to start again.

"Of course I'll help you Yuki," I said. She had always struggled with school. Part of it was probably because she never had time to do her homework. She knew that I did well in school. It had always come easily to me, when I chose to actually put in the effort to do it. When it came to Yuki, I would always put in the effort to help her.

She dazzled me yet again with a smile that lit up her whole face. To hide my smile, I said, "Well go get it then," and she nodded, turning around to run down the stairs and grab her stack of papers and books. She ran up the stairs just as fast, making her breath uneven and her heart beat faster by the time she was beside me on my bed. I tried to subtly move away from the sound and smell of her rushing blood, but she noticed and turned to me with a sad look in her eyes. Thinking fast, I faked a cough and said, "Sorry, I have a cold…I didn't want you to catch it…" I lied awkwardly. Vampires rarely got sick.

Understanding flashed in her eyes and she smiled at me. She was so gullible sometimes, but that was one of the things I loved about her. Her innocence.

As we worked through some of the questions on her homework, I went on autopilot, enough that I was able to let my mind wander a bit. There were not many ways that I was able to help Yuki, though there were a thousand ways I could hurt her. Sometimes it seemed that all I could do was hurt her, with my words, my actions, or even my physical strength. So the fact that she needed me, even this little bit to help with her schoolwork, warmed my heart. She did so much for me. This was the least I could do for her. As long as she had breath in her body I was here to help her in any way she needed me.

Tonight, patrol seemed to be pretty laid back. Maybe all of the lovesick teenage girls were too busy with their assignments, or maybe everyone was just tired, but the only people out seemed to be the vampires, and they stayed well away from me.

I had walked around my half of the campus, so I stopped at our usual meeting place halfway to wait for Yuki. She always showed up much later than me, probably due to her short legs and tendency to attract all the vampires to the scent of her human blood. Yuki ran into problems almost every night, while I almost never did unless I had to come to her rescue, which was most nights.

I heard soft approaching footsteps and sighed in relief, thinking it was Yuki, back safely from her half of the campus to patrol. I was surprised to see Ruka, a female night class student, walking towards me. If she weren't a vampire and if all my thoughts were not already consumed by one person, I may have found her beautiful. With her long dark blonde hair and graceful stride, she was considered a beauty among not only the humans, but the vampires as well.

"Ruka," I said tensely by way of greeting. Though we were far from being friends, she and I had an understanding. We both would give our lives protecting the ones we loved. Even if the one she loved was Kuran, I admired her unwavering loyalty.

"Zero," She said distastefully, though still her voice rang out like a bell.

I waited for her to get to the point. I knew she wouldn't have approached me if she didn't have a reason to. Finally, she obliged.

"Lord Kaname asked me to let you know that Yuki was safe, but that she may need some help getting home, and that—"

I was moving immediately, cutting her off. She yelled after me that I should thank her, she wasn't a messenger, but I ignored her and kept walking in the direction I knew Yuki was. I could smell her, and I could smell that filthy vampire with her.

I arrived at the place where Yuki, Kuran and two other vampires I didn't know the names of were standing. My eyes immediately went to Kaname's hand, resting on Yuki's shoulder. I didn't like the way he touched her, like she was his and his alone.

"Yuki had a run-in with these two. I need to take care of them, so I figured you could at least handle escorting Yuki home," he said in that calm, emotionless voice that I despised so much, clearly trying to evoke my anger. It worked.

"Come on Yuki, we're going," I all but hissed, glaring at Kaname as I grabbed her hand towed her along behind me. She didn't struggle, but turned her head to catch a last glimpse of Kaname, who was quietly threatening the vampires who had had a "run-in" with Yuki, as we headed into the trees.

I was quiet for a long time, my blood silently boiling. What had happened, and how did Kuran find her? How had I not heard or sensed her distress?

"Zero?" she said softly behind me. I stopped, letting go of her hand, and turning around to face her. I looked down at her, waiting for her to finish her thought.

"I…I'm sorry. I know you must be annoyed with me, always having to come and get me. I feel like I'm such a nuisance to you. So…thank you again," she said, and to my dismay I saw tears forming in her eyes.

Before I really had time to think about what I was doing and all the ways it would be hard for me to control myself, I wrapped my arms around her, embracing her. I could not believe that she thought I was mad at her for needing help. I was mad at Kuran for obviously trying to provoke me, I was mad at those vampires for trying to harm her in any way, and I was mad at myself for not knowing she had needed me. But I could never truly be angry at her.

At the suddenness of my hug, her breath caught, and I felt her stiffen for a moment in shock before melting into me and wrapping her arms around me in return. I could feel tiny wet spots on my clothing where her tears had escaped. She talked into my chest, voice shaking.

"They tried to drink my blood. It's not like that hasn't happened before, it's just…I don't know. It always scares me. It brings back those awful memories…" she said, trailing off. I knew which memories she was referring to. I steeled myself for what I had to say, and pushed the words out.

"There was nothing to worry about, Yuki. Kuran found you in time," I said, hating that I had to say it, but knowing that it would comfort her. I had to put her comfort above my anger at him.

"You're right," she said, and I knew I had said the right thing, even if it pained me. She released me, allowing me to breathe through my nose again and took my hand.

As we continued walking, I allowed myself the tiniest smile as I thought of our embrace. Though I had strained to keep both my urges as a vampire and as a man reigned in, it had been worth it. I was the one she felt comfortable crying in front of, not Kuran. Not that it changed anything, but for the time being, I let it comfort me as we walked together in silence back to the headmaster's house.


	6. Chapter 6: Yuki's Perspective

_**I do not own Vampire Knight or any of the characters involved.**_

When we got back to the headmaster's house, it was very late. Although I hadn't finished my pile of homework yet, I was so tired. I decided to skip it and go to bed. Zero headed straight for the shower.

As I headed to my room, I thought about the night and how Kaname had saved me from the vampires, just as he had so many years ago. It always seemed as though he was there at the right time. But then, it always seemed as if Zero was too. He had seemed so angry tonight.

Strangely, I felt myself blush as I thought about our embrace earlier. He had seemed so unstable as he hugged me tightly. I didn't know what to make of it. I had known him for years, and in all that time, he always seemed so put together. Angry, yes, but he never seemed shaken. Even the night I met him, he did not seem shaken, but dead. I remembered with such clarity that first night.

_I had been sitting at the table eating dinner with the headmaster when there was a knock at the door. The headmaster had looked up curiously, mumbling that he didn't remember expecting any guests tonight. I had watched silently as he had opened the door. _

_ Standing outside was a tall man wearing a long coat. He leaned in to talk to the headmaster privately. I couldn't hear what was being said, but I heard the urgency in his voice. The headmaster looked shocked, but he nodded, agreeing with whatever the man in the long coat had said. The man quickly disappeared, walking to his car, and I thought he was going to leave. But then, he came back from his car, pushing a boy who looked about my age in front of him. _

_ The boy had a very different appearance than most people. He had silver-colored hair and lavender eyes, both very unique to see on a person. But what I noticed the most was not his appearance, but the way his eyes bore into mine. They looked dead. I didn't know what, but I knew that something must have happened to this boy to make him look so dead. _

_ "I'd like you to meet Zero Kiryu. Be nice to him Yuki, his family was killed by a bad vampire. Help him get cleaned up. I have some business with the police I must attend to," the headmaster said quietly to me. He walked away, leaving me alone with this boy. Zero, he had called him. I tried to find my voice._

_ "So the bath…it's…it's over here," I said, pointing inside, thinking he would follow me. He didn't move, and he didn't say a word. "May I touch you?" I asked after a pause. Still, he didn't respond. He didn't even look like he was listening. "Come on," I said to him, coming behind him and putting my arm around his shoulder to lead him to the bathroom. _

_ I lead him up the stairs and to the small bathroom on the second floor. I realized there was already hot water in the tub, although I hadn't remembered the headmaster or I having filled it before. _

_ "There's hot water in the tub already," I said, hoping he would take it from here and clean up. Again the only answer I received was his silence. I knew I was going to have to help again._

_ "Um…you want…help with your shirt?" I asked, feeling awkward. Silence. I walked to his side and slid the shirt off of him. I gasped. His entire neck, and parts of his face and chest, were covered in blood, probably his own. To stop my eyes from filling with tears, I knelt down beside the tub and soaked a washcloth in the hot water. I turned to him again._

_ "Can I clean that up?" I asked, knowing he wouldn't respond. I just felt better asking him for permission. When he proved me right by not answering yet again, I gently washed the blood off his body, being careful not to hurt him. "Tell me if I hurt you," I said quietly. He looked right through me. _

_ When The blood was cleaned up, I saw the source of the blood; two small puncture wounds were in his neck. The vampire who killed his family must have bitten him. I wondered why his whole family had been killed and he had been spared, but I didn't dare ask him, for fear he might break. He seemed so fragile to me. _

_ I took him around the shoulders again and lead him into the adjoining room, which was the only extra room in the house. I set up the bed and put sheets and covers on it, along with pillows, and stood back to make sure he had everything he would need. I don't know how, but I had just known that he wouldn't eat any food tonight. So I walked him over to the bed, and pulled back the covers. _

_ "This is where you can stay. I hope it's comfortable enough…" I let my sentence trail off. I watched as he climbed into the bed and turned away from me, resting on his side. I stood there a moment longer, caught up in emotion for this poor boy. "I'm so…so sorry," I whispered, letting the tears fall freely from my eyes now. He didn't turn or give any sign that he had heard me, but somehow I knew he had. I knew all he wanted now was to be alone. I left him._

As I was brought back to the present, I realized the shower had stopped running. Good, Zero must be out then. I changed into my nightgown and grabbed my toothbrush, heading to the bathroom. The door was still closed when I got there, so I knocked, wondering if Zero was still in there. When there was no reply, I walked in.

Zero sat on the ground, only his pants on, and his whole upper body was soaked. It was as if he had gotten out of the shower and stopped mid-change. He looked utterly lifeless. Something about his eyes reminded me of that first night I had met him.

"Zero…" I said quietly, but he didn't even stir. He just looked blankly ahead as if in a trance or something. I grabbed a towel and walked over to him, kneeling down in front of him.

Without a word, I dried him off, and scrubbed his hair dry with the towel. He didn't seem to mind much, although I knew he was at least aware of me by now. When I had finished, he sighed and stood up without a word. He looked as if he was about to leave, and then thought better of it. He turned back around to face me and offered me his hand. I took it, and stood up, smoothing my nightgown. I looked up at him to try to glimpse what was going on inside his head.

When he just stood there, I didn't know what to do. So I took his hand and lead him to his bedroom, opening the covers for him. He got in the bed and just laid there on his back, not moving or saying anything. He looked so sad, I almost wanted to cry. He was hiding something from me, I just knew it. Something was bothering him and he couldn't tell me what it was. I did the only thing I could think of to comfort him. I laid on the bed beside him outside of the covers and I stroked his hair, just as I used to when we were young. Before long, his eyes fluttered closed and he strayed into a troubled sleep, tossing and turning as I watched.

Tears brimming in my eyes again at the pain he was so obviously trying to hide from me, I got up from the bed and walked out of his room, closing the door behind me.


	7. Chapter 7: Zero's Perspective

_**I do not own Vampire Knight or any of the characters involved.**_

Later that week, I was sleeping in my dorm room. It was early in the morning. I was rudely awakened by a knock at the door. I ignored it, hoping whoever it was would just leave. They didn't.

"Zero?" I heard. It was the voice of Yuki. Even though I was always happy to see Yuki, I was not happy that it was so early in the morning.

"Zero you need to get up," she said, right beside my bed now. When I didn't move, she tousled my hair a little and laughed lightly, saying, "Come on Zero, if you don't get up now you'll sleep through the whole day like a vampire!" she said, much too cheerful for this time in the morning. I groaned at her terrible joke that hit too close to home for me. Taking my groan as a refusal to get out of my bed, she looked insulted, and instead resorted to extreme measures to get me up.

Before I could act, the covers were ripped mercilessly from my body, causing me to groan again. She then grabbed my bare shoulder with her hand and shook me violently. "Get UP Zero!" she was shouting now. It was almost funny.

"Fine, fine, I'm coming. What's the rush anyway?" I asked, slowly sitting up in bed and stretching.

"The headmaster asked us to come to his house this morning," she said, sounding a little less thrilled than before. Yet again, I groaned. This was not going to be fun.

"I'll meet you there," I said, knowing I couldn't allow her to see me take a blood tablet.

"It's ok, I'll stay and wait for you," she said, smiling at me. I had to come up with something.

"Unless you want to be here when I have to change I suggest you get a move on," I said, smirking at her shocked face and bright red cheeks.

"So…I'll see you there!" she said, and quickly made her exit.

After sitting through the painfully long breakfast the headmaster had made for us, he had told us that it was time for us to do dorm inspections of both the sun and the moon dorm. Earlier in the day, we had checked the day class students' rooms, only to find countless pictures, artifacts and other things reminiscent of the night class students. We were forced to confiscate them all. It was tedious work, but I was comforted by the fact that the moon dormitory would no doubt be much easier to search, as they would almost certainly not have anything belonging to the day class.

While I was waiting for Yuki to find me so we could do the night class dorm inspection, I went to sit under a large tree next to the school building. I was tired from being woken up so early, so I closed my eyes, attempting to rest. I must have dozed off, because I woke up to the sound of some birds chirping above me. As I got my bearings, I realized I needed to take a blood tablet. I took the tablet out and was about to put one of the disgusting pills into my hand when I heard Yuki's voice not far away from my spot under the tree.

"Zero! Are you skipping out on work again?" she asked me, the sound of her voice getting closer. As quickly as I could, I slipped the blood tablet back into a small pocket that was on the inside of the front of my jacket. I was pretty sure she hadn't seen.

"I'm already finished with it," I stated, putting my hands in my pockets and walking away. She just stood there, not moving. I didn't know what was wrong with her, but I did know if I didn't get away from her right now I would end up sucking her blood. I quickened my pace, intending to get out of there, but she caught my arm, so I was forced to relax my muscles once again. "Have you forgotten about searching the moon dorm?" she asked me. I cursed, remembering that we still needed to do that. Without a word, I turned and let her pull me along towards the moon dorm. We walked in silence until we were at the gates before the moon dormitory.

"We've never been inside the moon dorm before…I'm a little nervous. Are you?" she asked me. I ignored her. I didn't want her to know that I was. This search meant that I would be in close proximity to the vampires, and lately I had been very unstable and pugnacious around the night class students.

As we walked through the gates, a rather creepy old man looked up at us from his seat at the gate, most likely guarding it.

"Um…hi there…we just—" Yuki started to say, but she was interrupted by the man's gruff voice.

"You're from the disciplinary committee. Go ahead," he stated in a gravelly voice. We started walking again in silence towards the building.

As we started on the stairs up to the doorway, Yuki ran ahead of me a few steps, turning around so she was at the same height as me. "Oh. Hold on," she said, evidently just remembering something.

"Before we go inside, I wanna see what it is you shoved in your pocket earlier," she said, hands on her hips as if she knew she had caught me in the act. For a moment I didn't know what she was talking about, and then I remembered the tablets I had tried to hide from her. I tried to keep the shock from showing on my face, but I don't think it worked. She stared hard at me, waiting for my answer. I guiltily looked away. This was not good. If she found out what I had in my pocket, she could easily piece together the story and realize what I was.

"You're hiding something aren't you?" she asked me accusingly. "As part of the disciplinary committee there's a moral code that—" she was stopped mid-sentence as she somehow lost her balance, her foot slipping and her fragile body heading straight towards the ground.

I rushed to catch her and succeeded, landing on the ground with her on top of me. I was so annoyed that I didn't realize she had reached her tiny fingers into the front of my jacket, taking the container of pills out for examination. My eyes widened as I realized it was too late.

She giggled. "Guess I've got it now!" she chirped. Looking at the package, the smile melted off her face. "What is this? Medicine?" she asked me quietly. I did the only thing I could think to do and snatched the pills from her hand. I was so angry at myself for letting her see them.

"It's none of your business, ok?" I said threateningly. The only thing I could do for her now was drive her away. It was in her best interest to have nothing to do with me anymore. I walked away.

From behind me, I heard her calling, but I ignored it. I needed to leave. This was too close to her finding out. I made a snap decision to go into town. She wouldn't think to look for me there. She would be safe from me.

As I walked into town, I saw a small, family owned restaurant. I suddenly realized that I hadn't eaten since that morning and decided to treat myself. I walked in and sat down at the high seats near the front of the restaurant. I ordered the first thing I saw off the menu and waited for it to be made.

After a short time, the cook pushed a large bowl towards me. "Here you go," he said cheerfully. "You look a little down and out, so I threw in a boiled egg, on the house," he stated, a trace of pity in his voice. I didn't mind it though, this random act of kindness had helped to lift my mood ever so slightly.

I ate my dinner in silence, trying not to think of what had just happened, and if Yuki suspected anything. It hurt too much to think of it.

Out of nowhere, I felt, rather than heard, Yuki scream. I couldn't explain it, but in that moment, I knew beyond any doubt that she was in serious trouble, and that I needed to go to her. Not caring that I had yet to pay for my food, I ran out, ignoring the man's questions and accusations. None of that mattered right now.

I ran, faster than I think I had ever run before, and I stopped on a stone walkway in town. Waiting for some clue to where Yuki had gone, I sniffed the air and smelled her blood. I found the tiny pool of red on the ground close by and brought the liquid to nose on my fingers just to make sure it really was Yuki's blood, though I had no doubt. I would know her scent anywhere.

Just as I was examining the blood and trying very hard to stop myself from licking my fingers like an animal, something dropped on me from above. With my unparalleled reflexes, I pushed it off of me before its full weight crashed onto me. It was thrown all the way back against the wall ten feet away. As it slowly looked up, I realized what it was and tried to keep my disgust from showing.

"I see," I said, pointing the Bloody Rose, my vampire hunting gun, at the creature. "You've already lost your link to humanity, haven't you?" I asked it, though I doubted it could understand me. I would have bet my life that this thing was what Yuki run into. That only increased my anger.

As the crazed vampire ran towards me, I put my finger on the trigger, ready to shoot, but at the last minute, I pulled my gun up, making the creature stop in its tracks. It looked at me hungrily for a second until understanding seemed to flash across its eyes.

"You…one of us…one of us…" it said in a gravelly, half-insane voice. I covered up my surprise that it had spoken to me as I registered what it had said. It had called me one of them. One of the level E's that devoured humans, like Yuki, without a thought. My anger boiled over. I couldn't contain myself anymore.

"Shut up!" I shouted furiously at the level E, shooting the gun at it and simultaneously knocking me back a step from the force of the gun going off. When I regained my balance, the level E had fallen to the ground, no more than a pile of dust. But standing in its place was another, this one only a boy. I had a sudden flash of memory of my twin brother Ichiru. I whispered his name, my eyes wide.

The boy let out a crazed cackle and bounded up the side of the building in front of me before I could shoot him. He jumped into a window at the top of the building. That was when I heard the scream. Yuki's scream.

"Yuki!" I yelled, hoping that by some small chance she would hear me and know that I was coming to save her. I ran around the building, which I now realized was an old clock tower, and tried to find the entrance.

I could see the entrance right around the corner, but as I was nearing it, the bell started ringing. To my highly sensitive ears, the sound reverberated around in my head, causing me to cover my ears and kneel down in pain. I opened my eyes just in time to see Kaname calmly walking into the tower's entrance. Just before he did, he looked right at me, a look of pity in his cold eyes as he smiled the slightest smile I had ever seen. My blood boiled.

He was going to save Yuki. I was glad that at least someone was going to help her, but why did it have to be him? And shouldn't he be running or something? Yuki could die at any moment and he had the audacity to calmly walk up the numerous flights of stairs to her. Not to mention, how had he found out she was in trouble? And if he knew, why had he not gotten here sooner? The only reason I hadn't was because I only sensed it when I was in the restaurant. I hated him with every fiber of my being. There was something about him that I just didn't like at all.

As the bell's chimes died down, I was able to compose myself and start to run up the stairs. Although I had no doubt Kaname would get to her first, I needed to make sure Yuki was ok. She had to be ok. If she died now, after our fight thinking that I hated her—

I mentally yelled at myself. Yuki was not going to die. I wouldn't let her. I was almost to the top of the last flight of stairs when I heard Kaname's voice, talking to Yuki.

"…the person you've chosen to hurt is someone very dear to me," he said emotionlessly. Suddenly there was a powerful blast and I heard the level E boy scream as he was thrown down a hole in the floor that went all the way to the bottom of the clock tower.

"Kaname…what just…" Yuki said breathlessly, clearly in awe at the vampire's power. It was disgusting.

"It's over now," he stated.

"That boy…he was…" she said timidly, a question in her voice.

"Level E," Kaname said, hint of disgust in his voice.

"Level E? So does that mean he wasn't a vampire then?" Yuki asked hopefully. I laughed humorlessly from my place on the stairs below them. She had thought that vampires were all beautiful, controlled beings. Well, at least this may teach her that she needed to be more careful.

"No. They are vampires as well," Kaname stated, answering her question.

"Yeah, but he—" she was cut off most likely by Kaname touching her in some way, as her heart began to beat very rapidly and her breath hitched slightly.

"You're a bad girl. What were you thinking, coming to a dangerous place like this all by yourself?" he asked. I hated the way he said it. Yuki's breath caught again, probably as a result of him touching her again.

"I came here because I was trying to find Zero," she said softly, making my heart stop. She had come after me? Then this whole thing could have been avoided if I hadn't run away from her? I couldn't believe how stupid she'd been, coming into town alone just to look for me.

"Well I'm afraid he isn't here, he's back at the dorm," he said, and I bristled at the outright lie he was telling to her. Something about his tone made me sense that he knew I had been listening the whole time, and that I was still there. "I'll walk you back. With the scent of your blood, it's too risky for you to be out alone," he said, but his voice implied that it was too risky for her to be out with me.

Although this made my temper flare yet again, I knew deep down he was right. I was already struggling to control myself with the tiny bit of residue of her blood that was left on my fingers from earlier. It would be very dangerous for her to be with me now. I silently got up and ran down the stairs and out of the clock tower, heading back to the campus and my dorm room to be alone.


	8. Chapter 8: Zero's Perspective

_**I do not own Vampire Knight or any of the characters involved.**_

Before I made it to my dorm room, my body started reacting to a blood tablet I had taken earlier that day. I was forced to stop on some stairs and collect myself. I sat down at the base of the stairs and gagged up the blood tablet. My breathing was labored and I felt sweat start to form on my body.

Suddenly, I heard fast-approaching footsteps. My head snapped up. This was not good. If some poor human stumbled upon me right now it would be very hard to control my lust for blood. I turned my head around to yell at them to get away from me, but then I saw that, to my horror, it was Yuki. Forget "very hard to control my bloodlust", if she came any closer it was going to be impossible.

"Zero," she said my name, a hint of relief in her voice. After a pause, she took a step closer. I winced.

"You know, I think I'm finally beginning to understand what you've been telling me all along," she said. I stood up, readying myself to yell at her like never before telling her to leave, but what she said next stopped my heart.

"There definitely are some bad vampires out there…I mean, that thing wasn't…even a vampire," she stated almost to herself, not knowing that I had been there to witness the whole thing.

"It was like…it was like a beast…in human form," she said, cringing as she said it, but I was cringing more. That beast was what I was turning into. I shut my eyes tightly and clenched my fists. As she took a step closer, I couldn't contain myself anymore.

"Get back!" I shouted angrily at her. She needed to get out of there now, unless she wanted to end up as my next meal.

"But…but why?" she asked, the hurt she was feeling clear in her voice. "Zero, I wanna keep talking to you. I want you to open up and share your thoughts with me. After all, we are both exactly the same—"

"NO!" I cut her off, more angry than I had ever been at her before. Why couldn't she see that she needed to leave for her own safety? "We aren't…" I said, the softness of it in stark contrast with my outburst just moments ago. Of all things, she apologized.

"I'm sorry…maybe I've been a bit self-absorbed lately, thinking you and I were struggling with the same pain, and the same fears too. I guess…I was only seeing myself…" she said taking a step back as her voice wavered, sounding like she was going to cry again. Why could I not stop hurting her.

Intending to fix the horrible things I had said to her, I whirled around to face her, reaching for her hand. Too late, I noticed that her hand was bandaged, probably from when she had been bitten by the level E. Time seemed to move in slow motion. I watched in horror as the bandage came fluttering off her hand and down to the ground, exposing her open and still bloody wound.

The world was spinning around me. My head was throbbing and my blood was pounding. That was when I lost myself.

Faster than any human could move, I was behind her, my left arm locking her in place in front of me and my right hand holding her neck. As I leaned down and slowly licked the patch of skin on her neck right above her vein, she made a sound that told me she was afraid. The predator in me took control, grasping her neck and her body more tightly against me.

"Zero…" she said, shocked so much that she was absolutely still, not even putting up a struggle. I plunged my fangs, which were now fully descended, into her bared neck and began sucking her delicious blood.

I had wanted this for so long. I did not care at the moment that she would find out what I was or that she would most likely hate me, but a tiny sliver of myself that I had retained was screaming at me to stop, that I was going to hurt the only person I loved. It was too distant. I didn't listen, and instead continued sucking from her neck.

"Zero…stop…" I heard her say softly, though I paid no mind to it. "Stop!" she said again, this time louder, just as she started struggling against me. Relying on instinct, I gripped her tighter, keeping her from escaping. Then I realized what I was doing on some level and acted quickly, letting her push me off of her.

As I looked up, she was staring at me, fear plainly showing in her eyes. I could feel her blood coursing through me, and dripping down my fangs and lips. I attempted to wipe the blood away with the back of my hand, but to no avail. There was so much.

We stood there for a moment, staring at each other. I had not fully grasped my sanity yet. Slowly realization dawned on her face as she asked, "Why…did you…"

Blood dripped from her neck and splashed onto the floor of the stairwell. This, the sound of her blood hitting the floor, was what triggered me, the real me, to awaken and push aside the monster that had drunk her blood just moments ago. My eyes widened in horror at what I'd done. I did the only thing I could.

"Yuki I…I'm sorry…" I said, not able to even meet her eyes. My mind was reeling and half of me wanted to break down crying while the other half wanted to scream in anger at myself. I took a step towards her, trying to show her that I meant her no harm, but my actions had the opposite effect. She backed away from me, fear in her eyes.

"Yuki," said a voice on the stairs above us. Kaname.

"Is…is that you Kaname?" Yuki asked, as if she couldn't quite believe someone had come to save her from this…monster. Ignoring her question, he turned on me.

"You have been reduced to a blood-thirsty beast, Zero Kiryu," he said, stepping in front of Yuki. For once in my life, I was glad he was there, standing between the girl I loved and me, the monster who could have killed her. I accepted his words without comment because I agreed with them. I was a beast. Out of nowhere, Yuki jumped between Kaname and me.

"No Kaname, please don't!" she yelled urgently at him. However, she was weak from the blood loss and her sudden movement caused her to faint, falling near me. Without thinking, I caught her before she hit the ground. "Yuki…" I said, barely containing the fear that had creeped into my heart.

"You devoured her mercilessly, didn't you Zero? So much, that she can't even stand up," he said, leaning down to pick her up and hold her against him. I didn't protest.

"How was Yuki's blood? Was it delicious?" he asked me, accusation plain in his voice. My eyes widened again, as the memory of drinking her blood came back to me. Now that I was in my right mind, I remembered her tiny sound of fear and almost broke down right there.

She had been terrified. I had taken this fragile, innocent girl, the girl I loved, and violated her in the worst way possible. I didn't think I would ever forgive myself. She certainly wouldn't. I was barely aware as Kaname picked up Yuki and carried her bridal style down the hall. I noticed the headmaster standing at the top of the stairs and heard Kaname say back at him, "Headmaster?"

"Yes, I know," the headmaster answered gravely, adjusting his glasses and looking at me with a look of disgust. He looked at me a bit longer before saying, "Come on, Zero, let's get you settled."

I followed him to my dorm room, where he stood in the doorway, obviously not intending to stay with me. He probably wanted to go see Yuki—

Yuki…

I had to know. Even if I never saw her again in my life, I had to know that she was ok. She just had to be. "Yuki—" I began, but the headmaster cut me off.

"I will go to check on her," he said solemnly. "You just get some rest. Goodnight, Zero," he said softly, closing the door behind him. I stood there, still in shock over the way the night had unfolded.

When I felt I could move again, I took of my jacket and shirt, letting them fall where I stood and walked over to my bed. I climbed in and pulled the covers up, and I did what I had not done in over four years.

I cried.


	9. Chapter 9: Yuki's Perspective

**_I do not own Vampire Knight or any of the characters involved._**

Vampire. Zero was a vampire. Each word separately made perfect sense to me. Zero, my best friend since childhood. Vampire, a being so different from humans, so unfathomable. But…Zero…a vampire…the words didn't seem to sink in to my mind. I couldn't understand them.

With the answers I had gained about Zero when I realized what he was, there were a thousand more questions that were now crowding my mind. How had I not known? Why hadn't Zero been able to tell me? Where was he now?

After he had bitten me, I remembered thinking Kaname was going to kill Zero, and I jumped in between them to save him. After that was a blur. Somehow I had gotten to the headmaster's office, probably carried there by Kaname. Both Kaname and the headmaster had tried to talk to me and answer my questions, but I didn't remember much. I had been in too much of a state of shock to pay much attention. After talking to each of them, the headmaster had escorted me to my room. Now I was sitting on my bed, trying to reason through my coiled mess of emotions.

What I did understand from what I heard was that contrary to my belief, it was possible for a vampire to transform a human into a vampire, so Zero had been human once. I also understood that only a Pureblood vampire had the power to do this, which Zero was not, so there was no chance of me becoming a vampire. I understood now the bite marks that I had seen on his neck the night I met him. I also understood the blood tablets.

What I couldn't understand was the fact that Zero had been suffering alone for four years. I didn't see it. I should have known. But then…Zero hated vampires with a passion. He came from a family of vampire hunters, people who are specifically raised and taught how to kill vampires. Then a vampire murdered his whole family. I could understand why he hated them…but If Zero was a vampire this whole time, did that mean he had hated himself for all these years?

My eyes filled with tears. The worst part, the part I could barely even admit, even to myself, was that I was afraid. I was afraid of what he was becoming. I was afraid of losing him. I was afraid of the physical strength he had used to restrain me. I had often seen him in action, mostly when he was coming to my rescue in some way or another, but only once before in my life had he used his strength on me. Suddenly I was caught up in a memory.

_It was about a year after Zero had come to live with us. We had been sitting at the table in the headmaster's house when the headmaster had come in, looking beaten. Curious, we had looked at each other, wondering if we should ask him what was wrong. Before either of us could, he had answered our silent question. _

_ "There is a bad vampire on the loose in town," he had said in a very serious tone. "I want you both to promise me that you will stay here, near the house until we are able to take care of it. Do you understand?"_

_ Both of us nodded. Satisfied with our answers, he had gone upstairs to prepare for bed. As soon as he was out of earshot, Zero had turned to me, a smirk on his face. "You know he was talking to you, and not me, right? I'm a vampire hunter. You're just the delicate daughter of the headmaster," he had said. It had infuriated me. _

_ Hurt and angry, I had lashed out at him. "Shut up Zero! You couldn't kill a vampire. If you could you would have been able to save your family!" I had shouted. I immediately regretted it. A look of hurt so complete flashed in his eyes, and I knew I had hit home. But I couldn't turn back now, so I just kept glaring at him. _

_ Masterfully covering up the look of hurt in his eyes, he had looked at me with those dead, emotionless eyes and laughed a harsh, cruel laugh. "You don't know anything. You're just a dumb girl," he had said. A moment of tense silence filled the room between us, and then at the same moment both of us left the kitchen without another word. In that moment I had resolved to prove to Zero I wasn't just a dumb girl. I was going to kill the vampire. _

_ When I was sure both the headmaster and Zero were asleep, I had snuck out of the house, glancing around me to make sure I wasn't being followed. I got about 50 feet from the house when I heard a voice. _

_ "Don't do it, Yuki," said Zero, coming from the shadows behind me. The mere sight of him made me angry. _

_ "You can't tell me what to do, Zero!" I shouted back at him. I kept walking._

_ Suddenly, he was next to me, his hand grasping my shoulder, a look that was hard to interpret on his face. "Yuki, listen to me. Please," he said, strangely calm after our fight. I couldn't handle it anymore. Who did he think he was, calling me a dumb girl, and then trying to tell me what to do?_

_ I punched him in the nose. As a tiny bit of blood appeared, something in his eyes had changed. He had looked angry. _

_ "You're not going Yuki. That's final," he said. I was about to give him my angry retort when he snatched me off the ground, using his strength against me and putting me over his shoulder. He began to walk back towards the house. _

_ "Zero! Stop it! I demand you put me down! Zero!" I had shouted at him, an endless stream of words that he seemed to not even be listening to. I struggled, kicking him, hitting him, even biting him. I did everything in my power, but it wasn't enough. I could see in his eyes the anger brewing deeper and deeper. He looked as if he would explode. _

_ Without warning, I was forcefully thrown on the ground, and before I knew it he was on top of me, his hands restraining my wrists to keep me from punching him again. I was about to yell at him again when he said so quietly that it scared me, "Listen to me. Stop fighting me NOW and listen," he had said between his teeth, and the anger that was clear in his way-too-contained voice scared me into silence. _

_ "You were right earlier when you said I couldn't protect my family. That was the worst day of my life. Yuki, you are my best friend, practically my family now. I have lost too many loved ones to ever allow you to throw yourself into a dangerous situation like that and get killed. You are all I have. Don't you DARE do that to me," he finished, still glaring at me. _

_ For a moment, I was speechless. Then, I broke down, sobbing. The moment he stood up, releasing me I threw myself into his arms, and he was hugging me tightly. _

_ "Zero…I'm…I'm…so…sor…sorry…I'm sorry…" I sobbed into his shirt. "I said the most awful things to you. I didn't mean any of them Zero. You're my best friend. I'm so sorry I hurt you. " _

_ He had just stood there, letting my tears soak into his shirt, petting my hair as I cried. "Shh. Don't cry Yuki, ok? I'm sorry too. This was my fault to begin with. I don't know why I said it. Can you …forgive me?" he asked, smiling slightly down at me._

_ "Of course," I said softly, my tears finally ceasing. Releasing me from the hug, he took my hand and said softly, "Let's go back home, Yuki." Nodding, I followed him, my hand in his, back to our home. _

I felt my eyes prick with tears again as I remembered that day. He had used his strength against me because he couldn't bear to lose me then. This time had been different though. He had been so cold and unresponsive as he locked me against his body, clamping onto my neck with his fangs.

I sighed. I was afraid, yes. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I was not afraid of Zero. I was afraid FOR Zero. In that moment, I made up my mind. I would not give up on him. I would not let him give up on himself. That day, three years past, he had stopped me from doing something I would regret and saved me. Now it was my turn to save him.

* * *

The next day, I was sitting in my seat next to Yori waiting for class to start. My mind was reeling. Last night as I had been walking back to my room, I had overheard Kaname talking to the headmaster. Kaname had told him that Zero needed to be moved to the night class. I had stopped in my tracks. Zero in the night class? He hated vampires. I knew without a doubt that Zero would not stand for it. But what could I do?

As the teacher walked into the classroom greeting the students, I realized what I needed to do. Without a second thought, I got up from my seat and ran out of the classroom, ignoring the shouts of the teacher behind me. I needed to talk to Kaname and beg him to let Zero stay in the day class. I didn't know if it would work, but I had to try, for Zero's sake.

* * *

Arriving at the moon dorm, I hesitated before opening the doors. I had only ever been here with Zero before, and I felt a little uneasy without him by my side. I didn't believe any of the vampires would really hurt me, but there was something reassuring about having Zero there with me. I shook my head, trying to shake the uneasy feeling I was getting and opened the door quietly, expecting that all of the vampires would be asleep at this time in the morning.

To my surprise, when I walked in, Aidou was sitting on the couch across from two men wearing business clothes. I didn't know what was going on, but Aidou looked bored. He looked up at me as I entered.

"It's Yuki," he said, a hint of surprise in his voice.

"Oh Idol…I mean hello Aidou," I said, blushing, having accidentally using the name all of the hormonal day class girls had given him.

"Time for you guys to leave," he said to the men in the business clothes, pushing them out the door and ignoring their outraged protests. He closed the door behind them.

"It's so bright and now I'm tired and cranky, and it's their fault," he said in a whining voice. I felt a little bad for him.

"I'm sorry to barge in like this…" I said awkwardly. He yawned, stretching leisurely.

"I'm not annoyed with you, just them," he said sleepily. "But…why are you here? Everyone is still asleep," he said, a question in his eyes. Then a feisty spark came into his eyes as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

"I know! You want me to drink your blood!" he chirped, a ridiculous smile on his face. He was so strange. It was a well-known fact that his moods were volatile and could shift without a moment's notice. I gulped, trying not to cringe, remembering that the last time his mood had shifted suddenly, he had tried to drink my blood. At the last minute, Zero had come to my rescue.

"Uh…no thanks, I came because I wanted to see Kaname," I said carefully as I watched the smile melt from his face.

"Oh well. Follow me," he said, taking his arm from my shoulders and walking on ahead of me. He didn't seem to take offense to my statement. "So then…you're gonna take me to him?" I asked, a little suspicious.

"You're the only one that Lord Kaname is nice to. The rest of us are just following his lead," he said nonchalantly. Then, he stopped on the stairs and turned to look at me. There was a dangerous look in his eyes and I knew his mood had shifted once again.

"So Yuki. Who's bite marks are those?" he asked me in a dark voice. I started, realizing that while wasn't paying attention, he had snatched the bandage from my neck, exposing my bite mark from Zero. He turned around fully now, waving the bandage at me and laughing playfully at my shocked expression.

"Last night, out of the blue, the smell of blood wafted into our classroom. It was a bit shocking to all of us. Only I knew whose blood it was. The blood I smelled was your blood, Yuki," he said seriously, looking at me a little too intensely. "Lord Kaname told us all to ignore it, which we did and the excitement died down."

"That's what Kaname said? I didn't realize…" I said, my sentence trailing off as I was lost in thought. That meant that Kaname was keeping last night a secret. He hadn't told them yet that Zero was a vampire. I didn't have time to wonder why before I heard a soft sound from above me.

Suddenly, all of the candles in the room were simultaneously snuffed out, leaving darkness in their absence. My breath hitching from being a little frightened, I looked to Aidou to see if he knew what was happening. He was glaring at me, his fists clenched. He took a step towards me.

"Do you know how annoying this is? Yuki, just what are you to Lord Kaname?!" he yelled at me angrily, his mood changing yet again. To my horror, when I looked up at him, I saw ice descending down the railing coming towards me from his hands. The ice came closer and closer until it got to my foot, covering it and freezing me in place. The wild look in his eyes was enough to make my heart beat faster in fear.

I knew what this was. This was one of the special powers only vampire aristocrats had. I had seen some of the other night class students use theirs before, but only for purposes of showing off to each other. But I knew Aidou was not showing off. He was unpredictable and rash, making him one of the more dangerous vampires living at the academy.

He slowly began walking towards me, and then surprised me by jumping with a cat-like grace and landing right in front of me, his face inches from mine.

"Tell me Yuki. He likes you, but why?" he asked me. I felt a flash of anger and protectiveness.

"I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for Kaname. Ten years ago I was about to be murdered by a blood-thirsty vampire and he saved my life," I said defensively. A look of surprise crossed Aidou's face.

"Well now. I knew nothing about that," he said. Then, his mood changing again, he said, "So then. If Lord Kaname is your savior, then the best way for you to show your gratitude would be to let him drink every drop of blood your body has to offer," he said happily. It was somehow even more eerie than when he had sounded angry.

"Do what?" I asked, appalled by his words. Where was Kaname? Being a vampire, he had to have woken up by now to this. We were not exactly quiet, and I had a feeling Kaname would not appreciate this behavior from Aidou.

"Now I understand. Your blood belongs to Lord Kaname," he said again, voice dark again. "But what doesn't make sense is that bite mark, because it's not his," he said accusingly.

Suddenly he swooped down, again putting his face mere inches from mine, and took my face in his hand. He looked into my eyes, saying, "Don't give your blood to anyone else Yuki. And that includes me," he said, almost longingly. "Because one day, your neck will be graced by the lips of Lord Kaname himself. His fangs will slowly pierce your flesh, and when the sound of him drinking your blood finds its way into your ears, your body will tremble with ecstasy," he said softly, seductively. Then suddenly, breaking away from me, he stood up.

"You know, why not offer yourself to him now?" he said, his voice implying things other than drinking my blood. "You should plead with him to drink your blood," he said, smiling darkly. It seemed that if Kaname had wanted to stop this, he would have come by now, so I decided to take matters into my own hands.

"That's enough, okay?!" I said angrily.

"What did I embarrass you? He asked, smirking at me as he grabbed my arms with his hands and began to spread the ice along my arms and shoulders. Terrified, I did the only thing I could think to do.

"Aidou, stop it! That's enough!" I yelled, bringing my hand down to slap him. However, just as I was about to connect with his skin, a hand grabbed my wrist, stopping my arm in midair. I looked up.

"Please stop, Yuki," Kaname said calmly, still gripping my wrist.

"Kaname…how did you…?" I asked him. How long had he been there? Why had he not come sooner? And Why was it that only when I had been about to lay a hand on Aidou that he had finally intervened?

"Lord Kaname…" Aidou said, voice shaking as he realized he had been caught in the act. Slowly, Kaname turned his head towards Aidou. Without warning, he backhanded the blonde vampire, causing him to lose bend over in pain.

"Did someone ask you to do this?" Kaname asked, calm as ever. "No. I apologize, I was out of line. Would you please forgive me Lord Kaname?" Aidou said shamefully, kneeling in front of Kaname.

"Leave," was all Kaname said. "Yes," Aidou said without hesitation, bowing his head before retreating quickly into the darkness at the top of the stairs. Kaname then turned to me.

"That was entirely uncalled for. I'm sorry, Yuki," he said, again in that calm voice. I blushed, feeling uncomfortable that he had saved me at all.

"No, no, no! It's fine, really!" I said, entirely too cheery, trying to get past the awkwardness and waving my arms in the air like a moron. Without warning, he laid his hand on my cheek. My breath hitched.

"It's alright Yuki. All that I ask is that you just be yourself. You're so different from all the other people I have surrounding me. Yuki, you're a warm-hearted girl, and that is something I treasure," he said, the lack of emotion in his voice making him come off as slightly insincere.

"Now then, you should go. I believe that you have class right now," he said, his hand resting on the small of my back pushing me in the direction of the door, assuming that I would obey. "In the future, don't come here alone. This place is far too dangerous. However, if you do wish to come here again, I suggest you have Zero accompany you. Considering what he took from you, he owes you at least that much," he said darkly, still pushing me towards the door. But I couldn't go yet.

The fact that he thought he could get away with saying that to me, and that I would just leave when he told me to irritated me for some reason. He was not being fair to Zero, and I was going to call him out on it.

"That isn't fair to him. Why are you saying things like that?" I said angrily. His espression barely changed as he sighed and asked, "You really want to know?" His hand went to my neck, where my still-exposed bite marks were.

"The answer is quite simple. He bit someone I hold dear, and I'm sorry, but I just can't ignore that you got bitten by someone else," he said, a hint of possessiveness in his voice. It was a little unsettling.

"Kaname. I came here today for a reason," I said, remembering my original task and steeling myself to say what I needed to. "I have a request. Please don't put Zero in the night class!" I said, unable to control my emotions now.

"And why not?" he asked calmly.

"Zero has been fighting this battle all by himself. And for four years, I didn't know anything about it. I was so close to him the entire time, and yet I didn't even see it happening," I said, barely able to contain the tears anymore.

"You have a kind heart, but Yuki, with this there's no use beating yourself up over it," he said.

"I should have known!" I shouted at him, trying to make him understand. "When I found out Zero was a vampire I was totally shocked. But then…well yesterday I…I…I really hurt Zero," I said softly, not caring that the tears were now escaping from my eyes.

"Yuki. I'm sorry. If I could, I'd do what you ask, but I'm afraid I can't," Kaname said, wiping the tears running down my cheek with his hand. "Any human that becomes a vampire will eventually fall to a level E," he stated gravely.

Shocked, I took a step back from Kaname. A level E? That was what Zero was to become?

"Yuki, Zero cares about you and it's obvious he wouldn't want you to see him in that state," he said.

I couldn't think straight. Fresh tears gathered in my eyes and flowed down my cheeks. "So that's…" I said, not able to finish my sentence. Without another thought, I bolted out, slamming the door shut behind me, leaving Kaname alone.

I had to find Zero. I had to see him. And most of all, I had to find a way to save him, before it was too late.


	10. Chapter 10: Zero's Perspective

_**I do not own Vampire Knight or any of the characters involved.**_

I sighed. I had been sitting in my bed the entire day, lost in thought, every once in a while having to stop myself from crying again. It was pathetic. I needed something to do, a distraction.

I got up slowly and headed away from my bed. At my closet, I took off my uniform, throwing it on the bed behind me. Although I had not gone to class today, I had walked to the moon dorm earlier today to take care of some things and had dressed in the disciplinary committee clothing so that the guardian would let me pass.

As I searched through my sparsely populated closet looking for something to wear, I couldn't help but think of Yuki, for perhaps the thousandth time today.

What if I never saw her again? That was a definite possibility. She hated me now, I just knew it. And she must be terrified of me, of what I had done to her. I couldn't bear the thought.

Maybe if I never saw her again, it would be for the best. Though I knew it would break my heart, I thought that maybe never seeing her again would be easier than watching her every day in silence, openly loathing my very existence. It would be easier than seeing the fear in her eyes.

Finding something to wear, I quickly dressed. I had made up my mind. I was going to leave. It was all I could do for her now, the last kindness I could grant her. I shuffled through my closet, trying to grab my things to pack in my bag. As I was shuffling through them, something fell out onto the floor. I looked down to see what had dropped.

Again, I was overwhelmed by a pain in my heart. It was simply a picture. A picture of me, standing in front of the camera, looking less than amused, and Yuki standing behind me. She was mostly covered up by me, but the top of her head poked out behind my shoulder and I could tell by her eyes that she was smiling, though her mouth was not visible behind my shoulder.

I picked up the picture and sat down on my bed again with my gun in the other hand. I remembered the day this was taken. We had been about to go out on patrol and the headmaster had come bounding out of the house, insisting that we take a picture. I had sighed, barely cooperating and kept the annoyed look on my face. Yuki had stood up on her very tip toes in order to be seen over me. She had put her hand on my shoulder and smiled a bright smile. A smile I would never see again.

Could I really do it? Could I really leave, without ever seeing her face again, even if I knew the only thing I would see in her eyes now was anger and fear? I knew deep down that I was not that strong. I would never be strong enough to leave her. I couldn't even look at a stupid picture without feeling the ache in my chest. There was only one option left to me.

I pulled back the slide, readying the gun in my hand and dropping the picture simultaneously. Slowly and deliberately, I brought the Bloody Rose up to my fore head and put my finger on the trigger. As I was about to shoot, the door to my room flew open and Yuki came rushing in, my name on her lips.

She stopped. Seeing the gun to my head, she hesitated for only a second before acting.

"What are you doing?!" she screamed, running towards me.

She jumped on me, flinging me down on the bed and catching the gun that was in my hand, holding it down. She was quick, but I was quicker, and stronger.

Before she could react, I used my hand to catch her shoulder and push her off me, flipping her over. I swung around the force of that maneuver. She was now on the bed with me on top of her. Grabbing the gun by the barrel, her hand still holding it, I brought it up to my forehead again. She stared at me in shock and horror.

"Shoot me," I said softly. "Before I turn into a level E. I want to die, and I want you to kill me," I finished darkly. At least if I had nothing else, I could know that I had died by her hand, and that it had been what she wanted.

She shook her head vigorously, her wide eyes looking up at me. I looked back at her and lowered the gun, my eyes narrowing. What was she thinking?

Reaching for her neck, I ripped the bandage, which I could tell had been recently applied by the scent of new blood, off of her.

"You heard it too. I know you did. The sound of me drinking your blood. You can't pretend like everything's ok. Not after going through something as awful as that," I said bitterly, my voice shaking more towards the end. I took two fingers and lightly grazed the place on her neck where my fangs had pierced her, trying not to hurt her open wounds.

"Zero, listen…" she started to say quietly. I interrupted, needing to finish explaining to her.

"I tried. But I could no longer control the part of me that wanted your blood. I'm afraid this is going to happen again, and when it does I'll end up killing that person," I said, trying to make her understand. I brought the gun to my forehead again, her hand still on it.

"So shoot me," I said forcefully. "Admit it, you're afraid of my right now aren't you?" I said, the bitterness again creeping into my voice as it rose. She shook her head, looking as if she was about to cry again.

"I can't do it. I just can't…" she said softly, sounding like she could barely hold back her tears. It made me angry. Why was she getting so choked up over me? Did she not realize I was dangerous? I had just last night drunk her blood. I could have killed her, and still she was crying for me, a monster. If she wouldn't kill me, there was only one option.

I dropped the gun on the bed and picked up my bag, getting off of her. She didn't even move as I headed towards the door, intending to leave that very moment. I looked back at her, trying to memorize her beautiful, sad face in the moment I had. It was impossible. It could never do her justice. But I was out of time, and I needed to make sure she knew not to come looking for me. It was time for the final blow.

"Fine. Then leave me alone," I said harshly, walking out of the room without hesitation.

Once out in the hall, I picked up my pace, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to gather in my eyes as my throat constricted. I got to the door separating the dorm building from the outside and opened it, walking out into the cold night air and letting the door slam behind me.

I was so caught up in my emotions that I didn't hear the fast-approaching footsteps. I was about half way down the walk that lead to the front gates of the campus when I felt Yuki's tiny, warm arms encircling my waist from behind, and I heard a pained, "Zero!" come from behind me. Automatically I stopped, relaxing my muscles yet again so I wouldn't hurt her.

"Look…it's gonna be ok," she said, hugging me tighter, and I was swept up in a flash of memory.

_It was only weeks after I had come to live with Yuki and her adoptive father. I had barely spoken, and when I did, it was only a brief word or so to Yuki. She had been kind to me, but I suspected that it was only because she had to be. _

_ I sat down in a corner, my mind replaying the horrible scene of my parents screaming, being murdered by a vampire. Why had they died, and I lived? I didn't deserve to live. I wanted to die. _

_ I had brought my hand slowly up to my neck. Somehow causing myself physical pain seemed to numb the ache in my heart. I had dug my fingernails into the soft skin on my neck where the twin bite marks were and slowly carved bloody trails into my neck. Somehow I felt better. I hadn't noticed Yuki standing hidden behind a wall, but as she saw what I was doing, she rushed over to me, kneeling beside me and grabbing my hand, stopping it. She brought my bloody hand up to her head, and put her own hand on my cheek. _

_ I had turned to face her, seeing her tear-filled eyes. She looked so sad. _

_ "Stop! It's gonna be ok…" she had said, letting her tears fall freely down her face. _

_ I had not realized until this moment that she cared. Not because she had to, but because she genuinely cared for me. Her tears were real, and they were all for me, because I was causing myself to bleed a little. _

_ I had looked at her then, really looked at her, and it was like I was seeing her through new eyes. This kind girl cared for me. She was the only one, besides my family, who had ever cared for me. Looking at her then, I didn't know why I hadn't seen it before, but she was beautiful. Even with her long hair hanging in front of her face and her large brown eyes puffy and red from the tears she had been shedding for me, she was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. I wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of my life making her smile. _

As I was brought back to the present, I looked up at the stars, reflecting on that night so long ago. Looking back, I realized that was the night I had truly fallen in love with her.

"Yuki…" I said, my voice shaking as I thought about how all I had ever wanted was to make her smile, and all I had ever seemed to do was cause her pain.

"For the past four years…I've stayed by your side, and I had absolutely no idea what you were going through. I am NOT afraid of you," she said, her own voice shaking with emotion, as she hugged me still tighter.

"No matter what, I'm still gonna stay by your side," she finished softly.

"Yuki…" I said, barely above a whisper, overcome with emotion for this beautiful, sad girl who couldn't even see a monster standing right in front of her.

For this moment, only this moment, I let her hold me, comforted by her presence, refusing to acknowledge my sense of reality, and deliberately deluding myself into thinking that we could go on like this forever.


	11. Chapter 11: Kaname's Perspective

**_I do not own Vampire Knight or any of the characters involved._**

I stood by my window, silently watching Yuki and Zero down below. I sighed, shifting my position. In doing so, I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the window.

Seeing my brooding eyes and perfectly formed face had long since ceased to give me joy. I was beautiful, I knew, but I was not in the mood to think about my many wonderful attributes at the moment.

I sighed again, staring hard at that boy. He was barely more than a child. And yet, he thought that he could reclaim what was never his to begin with. When I had begun to use him as my pawn, I had never imagined he would fall in love with the girl. It was almost laughable. Almost. At least it would have been if she hadn't fallen right back in love with him.

Not that she realized her feelings. She was often quite dense. But they were present enough to irritate me.

How could this tragic former human, barely even a child in vampire years, ever compare to me? I was a god among my people. Yuki knew it too.

I sighed again. All in good time. She was mine, after all. Yuki would come back to me.

She would always come back to me.


	12. Chapter 12: Yuki's Perspective

_**I do not own Vampire Knight or any of the characters involved.**_

Zero and I were standing in the headmaster's office, looking dubiously at the items he had set out before us. The headmaster handed me a rather ugly bracelet with a small charm on it. He handed Zero a knife.

Before I could wonder what he was supposed to do with that, he sliced his hand, causing blood to well up. He took my wrist, holding his bloody hand over the bracelet, and let a single drop of his blood fall on the small charm. It sizzled. Strangely, Zero seemed to know what he was doing.

After watching his blood sizzle down to nothing, I looked up at him to find him already looking intensely into my eyes. I couldn't fathom what he was thinking. His eyes were so deep, so full of some emotion I couldn't quite identify. I stared back at him, trying to find what lie beyond those brilliant lavender eyes of his.

We must have been staring at each other for a while because when the headmaster broke the silence, it startled us both. "It's an ancient spell, a method that the vampire hunters have been using for a long time to tame an unruly vampire," he said. This explained why Zero knew what to do. He was from a family of vampire hunters after all. But when the headmaster said this, the word "tame" stood out to me. Like they were beasts. I didn't want to "tame" Zero. I didn't want to be given this power over him. Before I could think any more about it, the headmaster continued.

"The bracelet that I gave to Yuki works in conjunction to this crest," he said. Curious, I drew my wrist near Zero's tattoo on his neck as he held back the fabric of his shirt so I could reach it better. The way he was looking at me as I came closer made me think he knew what was going to happen.

As I drew closer still to his neck tattoo, there was a spark and it felt as though electricity was moving through my bracelet. It was a rather uncomfortable feeling, and it probably felt even worse for Zero as it was on his bare skin. I decided to withdraw my hand before anything worse happened.

As I tried to pull away, a force almost like two magnets attracting drew my wrist onto his tattoo faster than I could act. The moment the charm touched his skin it was as if some sort of force field had erupted from my bracelet and I closed my eyes from the impact. When I opened them, I gasped.

Zero was lying on the ground, eyes wide, not moving. He looked like he was paralyzed. I realized this must be the intended effect of the bracelet. I felt a swell of emotion for him and all I wanted to do was run over to him and hug him. "Zero…" was all I said, wanting him to know I was sorry.

"He's perfectly fine, you've simply immobilized him for a bit!" the headmaster stated what I had already realized, a little too cheerily. "Yuki, if Zero tried to bite anyone ever again please use that bracelet to stop him. Kaname has agreed to let Zero stay in the day class, but only on that one condition," he finished. I was trying very hard to not look at Zero, still paralyzed, but staring intensely at me again. Then I realized what the headmaster had just said.

"Kaname said that?" I said, surprised that Kaname had agreed to let him stay in the day class, considering his earlier statement that it just wasn't possible.

"Since his dearest Yuki made the request, Kaname just couldn't say no," he said, a hint of sarcasm creeping into his voice. He leaned down to talk to Zero.

"I'm sorry. I never wanted to use this method on you at all. Just try and make do with this," he told Zero, holding out the blood tablets and then realizing Zero still did not have the use of his arms. He put them back in his pocket and said, "And if you still crave the taste of blood…feel free to help yourself!" as he bared his neck to Zero.

I almost laughed at the expression on Zero's face. His eyes got huge and he looked as if he was going to throw up. I even heard him gag a little. Then he jumped up, suddenly able to move again and started punching the headmaster. While they were rolling on the ground fighting, I was trying to figure out what had upset Zero. Did it really matter whose blood a vampire took? Why was he so opposed to drinking the headmaster's blood when he had drunk mine without hesitation? Granted, I assumed the headmaster was joking, but it seemed odd to me. I filed it away in my memory for later.

I suddenly realized Zero was about to walk out of the room. I wanted to tell him that I was sorry. "Zero! Umm…" I started, unable to think of what to say next. But as always, he knew exactly what I wanted to say.

"It's alright. This is just fine," he said, walking out the door without looking at me.

* * *

The next day, Yori and I hurried to class, aware that we were about to be late. As we burst into the classroom, I saw the students all milling around and sighed in relief. Then I overheard them talking about a new professor.

"Did something happen?" I asked, a little confused.

"Didn't you hear Yuki? We're getting a new ethics lecturer today!" one of the students told me excitedly.

"Huh? But Why now?" I asked, wondering what had happened to our other ethics lecturer.

"I don't know, but I just saw him!" the girl stated dreamily. Oh no. So that was it. The girls in this class were so hormonal sometimes.

Just then, someone walked in, and I assumed it was him. I blinked a couple times. The girl had been right, for an older man he was very handsome. He had long, voluminous, raven black hair and light blue eyes…or at least I assumed the eye that was covered up with a leather patch was identical to his visible eye. He had a harsh look to him, but he was very well dressed. As he began to walk in a murmur went through the room.

"Seems word of my arrival has preceded me," he said, setting down the book that we had been using for the class. "The name's Toga Yagari and I will be your new teacher. Nice to meet you," he said, sounding as if he was less than pleased to meet us.

Just then Yori leaned over to me and whispered, "He's pretty cool for a teacher." Although I didn't disagree, there was something about him that made me uneasy. "Yeah, I guess…but—" I started to tell her, but then I caught a glimpse of Zero.

He was staring straight ahead, not looking at the new teacher. I knew him well enough to know that he was somehow deeply disturbed by something by the look in his eyes. I wasn't listening to the questions the students were asking, but all of the sudden, Zero seemed to hear one of them, which caused him to get up without warning and walk out of the classroom. I had no idea what anyone could have asked this teacher to make Zero so uncomfortable that he would leave, but there was no doubt in my mind that it was whatever had been asked that had caused him to go. I quickly turned to the new teacher.

"Um…sir…as a part of the disciplinary committee, I'll go bring him back," I said. Before I looked away, I could have sworn I saw a sad look flash across his eyes. I was beginning to wonder if this new teacher and Zero knew each other.

I ran out of the classroom, into the hallway and out of the school building, seeing Zero at the end of the walkway to the gates of the school grounds. I was running to catch up, but I knew I would never catch him if he didn't want me to catch him, so I yelled out, "Zero, wait up!" When he didn't slow down, apparently ignoring me, I shouted again, "Hey, come on Zero!" This time he stopped, and I figured he was waiting for me until I saw that the headmaster was there, standing at the front gate.

"Zero, you must realize that you can't just run away from all of your problems," he said, looking intensely at Zero, trying to convey some meaning that was hidden to me. Zero's eyes narrowed, and he looked as if he was going to attack the headmaster, so I took his arm and hugged it to me, looking up at him, pleading with him not to. One of these days he was going to seriously injure the kind-hearted man, and that was something I never wanted to see.

Eyes widening for a moment at the contact, he stopped, looking down at me. Seeing my worried expression, he snorted and rolled his eyes, as if to tell me that he wasn't going to hurt the headmaster, but strangely, he didn't pull his arm away from my grip.

"Would you two be so kind as to run some errands in town for me?" the headmaster asked, apparently unaware of the recent threat on his life. At the same time as Zero spat, "No," I said, "Of course!" simply happy to not be in class and to be able to spend time with Zero. Hearing my answer, he looked at me, about to begin talking, probably intending to tell me he wasn't going, but I looked up at him with my best puppy-dog expression, gripping his arm tighter and saying, "please?"

He looked at me for a long moment, sighed, and began walking in the direction of town, my arm still in his, pulling me along.


	13. Chapter 13: Zero's Perspective

_**I do not own Vampire Knight or any of the characters involved.**_

As much as I hadn't wanted to do anything for the headmaster right now, I had ended up in town with Yuki simply because I couldn't say no to her. Looking at me with huge eyes, gripping my arm and pleading with me, I would have given her anything she wanted.

We had run a couple errands and picked up some things, and now we were walking along the street, looking for a place to grab some lunch.

"Being sent on an errand by the headmaster has its perks, doesn't it?" she said, stretching and smiling back at me. "Not really," I said. Though I frowned at her, I was trying not to smile, looking at her completely free hands and back at my completely full ones, holding all of the things we had picked up for the headmaster. Every time I had been about to ask her if she wanted to take any of it (only because I knew otherwise she would yell at me for thinking she was too weak to carry anything), she would get distracted by something ordinary in a shop window and run to it, delighted, as if it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

As I had been thinking, I realized she had run off again, seeing something in a window. "Oh hey! Zero, look! Come over here!" she said excitedly. This time, I didn't try to hide my smile. This was one of the things I loved about her. Not many people had the ability to take something ordinary and find it beautiful. She was innocent, in love with the world and its wonders, and that only made me love her more.

Without warning, she was looking at me, a strange look in her eyes. Again, we made eye contact, and it seemed to last for a while before she dazzled me with a sweet smile, running over to me and taking my arm, since my hands were completely full. I wondered what she had been thinking about.

She walked with me down the street, talking about a place she really wanted to take me and I followed behind, letting her lead me. Soon we got to a small café. We came inside, our arms still linked, and the hostess smiled, clearly thinking we were a couple.

"Table for two?" she asked. I nodded. We were brought to a small booth near the back of the café and given menus.

"Zero, let's get ice cream! Will you share with me? I can't eat it all," she asked me hopefully. I sighed. I didn't want ice cream at all, but I wasn't really hungry anyway, so it didn't really matter to me. "Whatever," I said nonchalantly.

We ordered, and soon the ice cream came, a huge sundae piled with every kind of topping imaginable. I tried to hide a smile again. She reminded me of a five-year old sometimes.

"I'm digging in!" she chirped, expecting that I was going to share with her. Just to see her reaction, I said, "I wanted noodle soup." As I had hoped, she stopped her spoon halfway to her mouth and stared at me with huge eyes, blushing. I tried to keep the hard expression on my face, but it was very hard not to laugh at her guilty expression. All of the sudden, she was back in motion.

"Yeah, but the sundaes here are so good! Sayori and I came here together the other day, and—" she suddenly stopped her chatter and her eating to look at me seriously.

"Hey Zero, by the way…that new teacher…do you know him?" she asked carefully. So she had noticed my reaction to him. I looked away, not knowing if I wanted to tell her. Seeing this, she quickly appeared to reconsider.

"Uh…never mind, you don't have to answer that, it's just…that he comes across kinda scary…" she said, trying to spare me from feeling uncomfortable.

"He's not. When you get to know him, he's actually—" I said, making up my mind to tell her how I knew him, when I was interrupted by an excited-looking waitress.

"Excuse me, but are you from the Cross Academy night class? You are aren't you! I knew it immediately. You don't look like everybody else does. Students from the elite class aren't like everyone else. There's someone in the night class named Aidou, right? He likes sweets and he comes in here sometimes—" she babbled, but I interrupted her, saying, "I'm leaving," to Yuki, unable to take any more. Yuki had tried to correct her a couple times, but the waitress had ignored her, only interested in me.

As I got up, walking outside, I heard Yuki say, "ok," sounding a little confused. I made my way outside, the bell on the door chiming as I walked out.

I must smell like the vampires. That must be why the girl assumed I was from the night class. It couldn't have been how I looked. I had looked like this as a human too. The thought that I smelled like the creatures I despised so much made me slightly sick.

Out of nowhere, I was overcome with bloodlust. I could smell Yuki's blood from where I was outside the shop. I needed to leave now. I dropped the packages that I had been still holding and made a run for it.


	14. Chapter 14: Yuki's Perspective

**_I do not own Vampire Knight or any of the characters involved._**

I hurried to finish my ice cream and pay, since I knew Zero was likely waiting for me outside of the restaurant. When I was done, I came outside, not even bothering to look for him before saying, "Thanks for waiting Zero. Are—" I stopped, realizing he was nowhere to be found. I looked around, thinking maybe he was just sitting on a bench nearby, and saw the packages we had picked up for the headmaster on the ground, as if he had needed to leave in a hurry and hadn't even bothered to take them with him. This couldn't be good.

I immediately took off, looking for him all down the streets. Not only was he most likely in some sort of trouble, but I had a strange fear of the town when I was alone. Ever since I had run into that level E, I had been a little scared of town. I searched frantically for him, feeling like a child separated from her parents. I felt unsafe.

As I ran past a broken down building, I caught my exposed elbow on something sharp and protruding and started to bleed. Now I was really panicking. I tried to calm myself down, telling myself that it was fine, I wouldn't run into any vampires.

Just then, someone jumped down from above, almost landing on me, but I pulled out my Artemis Rod just in time and deflected whoever it was. My heart stopped.

Before me was a vampire, clearly a level E, smiling demonically and laughing. "You know, your blood smells delicious!" It rasped. "Let me drink…every drop of it!" it screamed, grinning and running towards me.

I froze. I couldn't control my limbs. I felt like a deer in the headlights, seeing the danger coming straight at me, but not able to do a thing about it. As fear washed over me I realized I wasn't going to be able to deflect the level E in time, and I was about to scream when two arms came from behind me, one gripping Artemis and the other circling my waist and pushing me back against a warm body. Before I knew it they had both hands on Artemis and had used it to knock the blood-thirsty vampire aside.

"Don't just stand there, Yuki," he said. It was Zero. I felt a surge of relief at having him there.

"Zero!" I said breathlessly. He said something behind me, but I wasn't paying attention. I kept thinking what would have happened if he hadn't come at the right time.

Half way feeling safe with Zero there and half way being terrified at the beast before me, my legs gave out, and I collapsed onto the ground, asking the dreaded question. "So is that…a level E?"

As I said this, the creature came rushing towards me with a hungry look in its eyes. Before I could react, Zero jumped in front of me, blocking its path to me. He was about to swing the rod at it when suddenly the creature seemed to explode. Behind the cloud of dust that had been the level E, I saw two of the night class students, one of them sheathing a sword.

"Takuma! Senri!" I said, recognizing them. They were two of the vampires that I often ran into, but had never had any problems with.

"There we go," said Takuma, smiling kindly at me, as if killing this level E had been some small nuisance that he had taken care of.

"Why am I here? You didn't need me," Senri said from behind him, sounding bored. Finally able to feel my legs again, I got up from the street. However, I stayed behind Zero, still a little shaken from the experience. If I fell or something, I could brace myself on him.

"Why are you two outside doing this," I asked, confused. Why were these vampires killing other vampires? Granted it had been a level E, but it was still something I considered strange.

"If you really want to know, stop by the moon dormitory tonight. Then we'll discuss the reason why we came for that level E," Takuma said before turning to leave with Senri close behind him.

I turned to Zero, looking up at him to see him staring down at me, one eyebrow cocked. "I don't think you should go," he stated simply. Well, he had worded it as an opinion…and it was a request, not an order. Not that that would have stopped me. Without saying anything, I made up my mind that I would still go.

I suddenly remembered that he was still holding my Artemis Rod. I reached out to take it, but when I got a grip on it, I pulled, but it wouldn't come loose. He was gripping it tightly. Confused, I looked up at him. He was still staring down at me. Actually, it was more like glaring now. I was about to ask him what his problem was when he started talking.

"Yuki. What were you thinking?" he asked, a strain in his voice. Not knowing what he was referring to, I cocked my head, asking a silent question. He sighed.

"How could you just stand there as that blood-thirsty beast was running at you?" he said, looking very disturbed at my lack of action. "If I hadn't come in time…" he trailed off, and his body visibly shuddered.

Not wanting to explain to him since I didn't even really understand myself, I went for a different approach. "But you did, Zero. Just like you always do," I said, smiling up at him.

His expression softened the slightest bit, but then it went hard again. He pushed Artemis towards me and said, "I need to see you use this properly, or I won't be able to sleep at night." Before I could ask him what he was talking about, he stepped back from me, crouching as if ready to pounce. I suddenly understood.

"Zero, wait, I can't—!" I started to say, but he was already rushing at me. I started backing up like crazy, trying to tell him that I was not going to use Artemis on him, but I hit a wall.

Just like that he was upon me, his arms on either side of me, boxing me in with the wall at my back. He was standing up, out of the crouch now, but his neck was bent, looking down at me, his face just a scant few inches from mine. I stared at him wide-eyed, listening to him breathing much too hard for the short 15 feet he had just sprinted. Again, we just stared at each other, not breaking eye contact for what seemed like a long time.

Suddenly breaking the eye contact, he stepped away from me, looking especially angry. "Yuki, what is wrong with you? Why didn't you use your bracelet on me?" He yelled at me. Hearing him talk about my bracelet, I was confused. Hadn't he wanted me to use the rod? I wasn't supposed to use the bracelet unless he was going to bite someone…oh.

It hit me suddenly that he probably had been fighting an internal battle not to bite me. Especially with my open wound on my elbow still exposed. I gulped, trying to find the words to say.

"Zero…I'm sorry...I promise I know how and when to use Artemis, ok? I was just…not quite on top of it earlier. And as for the bracelet…It's my fault, since I didn't do anything about my bloody elbow. So…don't worry about me, ok?" I finished, hoping he would be satisfied. He sighed.

"No Yuki, it's not your fault," he said softly, taking his tie out of his pocket where he had put it when he had changed out of his uniform. He stepped closer to me and began wrapping the tie around my elbow, loosely enough that I could move it, but enough that it would hopefully stop the bleeding. I watched his hands as he worked, grateful to have a friend who cared about me so much.

* * *

Later that night, I was quietly heading in the direction of the moon dorm. I wanted to go see Takuma about what had happened with the level E earlier today, but I would rather that Zero not find out, since he had said he would rather I didn't go. I was looking around, making sure I hadn't been seen when I heard a voice.

"I knew it," Zero said. He was standing at the entrance of the moon dorm, arms crossed, as if he had been waiting here awhile, expecting me. I felt a blush heat my cheeks at my obvious predictability.

"Zero. You…you can't stop me!" I said confidently, though I knew if he really wanted to he could just pick me up and take me back. But I also knew he wouldn't. He rarely tried to force me into anything, and when he did it was usually for my own good.

"No, I'll go too," he said, surprising me. I turned to him to ask what he was thinking and found him holding out a vampire hunting gun to me. "I borrowed this anti-vampire gun from the headmaster," he told me. My first reaction was defense.

"Why are you bringing a gun here? The night class students are good people. Put that away!" I said, crossing my arms.

"You've got it wrong," he said, reaching out to take my hand and placing the gun into my palm. I made a sound of surprise.

"If at any time I lost the human part of me and go out of control…use this," he said softly, looking straight into my eyes. I pulled away sharply.

"I could never do that! Besides, if I need to stop you I can always use the spell the headmaster taught me," I said, trying to hand the gun back to him.

"There will come a day when that spell will not work on me. You know this. You saw that level E today. That is eventually what I will become. When it does, Yuki, I want you to be the one…to kill me," he finished, closing his eyes.

I stared at him, with his eyes closed, holding my hand with the gun in it. I blinked a couple times to keep the tears from starting to form. I couldn't even think of that. I couldn't imagine a time when Zero wouldn't be here, by my side. And he wanted me to kill him? Why me? How could he possibly believe that I would be able to kill him, my best friend since childhood? Then I had a thought. If he never ended up at the stage of level E, then he would not have to die. I resolved to think on this and find a way if there was one to keep him from becoming a level E.

"Alright. I'll agree to what you want. But the reason is because I don't think that day is ever gonna come, Zero. I just won't let it," I said, determination plain in my voice. I was suddenly desperate to know he was trying too. I couldn't fight for him if he wasn't going to fight for himself.

"Zero. You have to promise me something. Promise me you'll keep fighting so that I never have to use this pistol," I said, making sure to stare him down.

"I promise," he said softly, looking at me with sad eyes. Satisfied with his answer, I nodded, turning around to continue walking towards the moon dorm.


	15. Chapter 15: Yuki's Perspective

**_I do not own Vampire Knight or any of the characters involved._**

When Zero and I had gotten to the moon dorm, Aidou and Akatsuki had surprised us by being there to escort us. We had come to the courtyard where we realized all of the vampires were gathered there for Takuma's birthday. A little surprised, I had quickly gotten over it and cut to the chase, asking about the level E earlier. Takuma had explained about the vampire society hierarchy, starting with Purebloods and branching off to aristocrats. Then came the average vampires. After them were the former humans, like Zero, and lastly the level E's. I was appalled at this. The vampires were the ones who had turned these humans into vampires, and then they just destroyed them? It wasn't right. I was about to give Takuma a piece of my mind when I was interrupted by the voice of Kaname.

"They were following my orders," he stated, his voice carrying over everyone else's despite it being rather soft. I looked over at him, not only shocked at what he had just said, but also shocked that he was there. I hadn't noticed him in the shadows.

"I did it. I'm the one who told Takuma and Senri to hunt down the level E today," he said.

"It was you Kaname?" I asked him, still trying to wrap my mind around it.

"Yuki, I'm surprised you would come to such a dangerous place simply because Takuma asked you to," he said, irritating me. I hadn't come because he had asked me to. I had come because I needed to know the truth.

"I wanted to find out for myself," I said, a little harshly. Kaname put his hand to his forehead, sighing in frustration. "Did you, now," he said, almost to himself. This angered me a little. He was acting like I was an insubordinate child, and he was trying to decide what to do with me.

"Come over here, Yuki, Zero," he said. It wasn't a request. He turned around walking back towards a couch in the shadows, expecting us to comply. Although Zero gave me a look that said he would rather die, I had made up my mind to find out what I could. So when I turned to go to Kaname, Zero followed.

"Yuki. Sit beside me," Kaname said, another command. Surprised, I looked at him, my eyes wide. He hadn't offered anyone else a spot next to him. Seeing my expression, he said, "It's alright," obviously intending to make me feel welcomed. I hesitated a moment, thinking of Zero. I didn't want to leave him standing alone.

"I'm fine here," I said, trying to politely decline, but his eyes narrowed, and he looked right into my eyes. "Yuki," he said, using a tone that scared me a little, leaving no room for anything but compliance. "Okay," I said quickly, sitting down beside him. I tried to catch Zero's eye and make sure he was ok, but he wouldn't look in my direction for some reason.

Without warning, Kaname's arm snaked around my shoulders and pulled me over to him, again not allowing any room for disagreement. "Beside you is the safest place for you to be," he stated. I looked over at him, trying to decifer what he was talking about, but he wasn't looking at me. In fact, he seemed to be looking straight at Zero. Was he implying that Zero wasn't safe? Or maybe looking for Zero's reaction as to where I was sitting? I didn't know.

Looking at Zero, I remembered that Kaname had been the one to allow Zero to stay in the night class. Not knowing what else to say to him, I began to thank him, saying, "You know, actually, I've been meaning to thank you for the—"

Kaname cut me off, apparently not even listening to me, and said, "To be honest, vampires that were formerly humans shouldn't really exist at all," he said, still staring straight at Zero. I quickly looked at Zero to see if he would react. His eyes widened slightly, but otherwise he showed no sign of being offended. Kaname continued.

"But centuries ago, in the dark annals of history, lies a time when the battle between vampires and vampire hunters was most violent. Many humans were forcibly turned into vampires at that time. It was done to bolster our numbers in battle. Ever since that wrong was committed, it has been the duty of the aristocrats to oversee the vampires who were once human. And sometimes that duty means ending their lives for another's safety," he told me. As he said this last sentence, he had grabbed a hold of my arm, seeing the bandage on my elbow that I had applied instead of Zero's tie when we had gotten back to the academy. Kaname examined my arm, letting the bandage fall to the ground.

Out of nowhere, Zero was standing in front of us. He had clearly been listening to Kaname's history lesson as well. "It's the vampire hunters' duty to kill vampires, not yours," he said to Kaname, looking angrily at him. I noticed that Zero only looked at Kaname, avoiding my eyes completely.

"Then tell me. Why didn't you kill that level E when you had the chance?" Kaname said calmly to Zero. It seemed to upset him as his lavender eyes flashed in anger. Kaname turned back to me, ignoring Zero again.

"This must be your injury from today. Hold still, I'll ease the pain," he said, causing me to look up at him wide-eyed. He kissed my injured elbow, erasing the pain, and I was left in shock. I hadn't known he had the power to do that. Kaname's lips still almost touching my elbow, he looked at Zero again.

"Perhaps, Zero, you sympathized with him," he stated darkly, shocking me. That was clearly intended to upset Zero, and if I knew Zero, he would not take that sitting down—

Zero pulled out the Bloody Rose, aiming it straight at Kaname. Usually, I would have yelled at him, but this time I knew that Kaname had asked for it, so I said nothing, knowing that Zero wouldn't actually kill someone for one small comment.

However, the other vampires did not seem to know that. Kaname's personal body guard, Seiren, had lashed out to stop Zero as a collective gasp went up from the vampires standing in groups in front of us.

"It's ok Seiren, it's my fault. I said something that I shouldn't have," Kaname stated. Why would he say it then, I wondered? But all the same, Zero lowered the gun.

The other vampires, on the other hand, did not seem ready to let this go. Aidou was the one who spoke for all of them. "How dare you point a gun at Lord Kaname. Tearing you to shreds right here wouldn't be enough. However…I will restrain myself while attending this academy. I don't want to hinder the headmaster's pacifist ideology. But never forget, our respect for one person is what keeps us at this school, and he's Lord Kaname, a Pureblood," Aidou finished darkly. His last words had caused me to do a double-take.

"A Pureblood? Is that true Kaname?" I asked, looking at him for confirmation. Try as I might, the only thought that came into my head was that it had been a Pureblood who had killed Zero's family and turned him into a vampire. Another piece of the puzzle fell into place, and I could understand a little more Zero's loathing for vampires, especially Lord Kaname.

"You look as if this is the first time you've heard this, Yuki," Kaname said, as if I should have realized this by now. "Are you afraid?" he asked me, surprising me yet again. Before I replied with some false answer, I took a moment to really think and I realized something a little unnerving.

"To tell you the truth…I guess I've always been a little bit…afraid of you. Even now…I'm still a little bit…afraid…" I told him honestly, trying to reason through this. I had always cared for Kaname. I had even asked myself many times if I loved him. How could it be that I had never stopped to consider the fact that I was afraid of him? And perhaps more importantly…why was it that he frightened me?

Suddenly, Takuma clapped, getting everyone's attention. He stated that this was still his birthday and he wanted us all to have fun, so the party resumed, the dark tale of the history between humans and vampires forgotten.

I watched as a vampire couple shared a drink of blood replacement together. The man attempted to wipe some of the liquid off of the woman's cheek, and she took that finger in her mouth, biting it to draw blood and sucking from the wound. Both vampires seemed to go about the act in an almost sexual manner. It disturbed me a little, but also made me realize that maybe the act of sucking another's blood was very sensual to a vampire. The more I thought about it, the more I realized it really was a part of the process.

I looked over at Takuma and Senri, who were in the process of cutting the birthday cake. As I watched, Senri accidentally cut Takuma's finger, causing him to bleed. Suddenly hearing a noise beside me, I looked over to see Zero cover his nose with his sleeve and bolt. The scent of blood must have been too much for him to handle. I needed to go to him.

"Kaname, look…I…I'm sorry but I…" not having time to finish my sentence, I got up and left, assuming that Kaname got the drift. I needed to go after Zero right away or I would lose sight of him.

As I was trying to run after him, Aidou grabbed my arm, asking me to dance with him, but I shook him off and yelled that I couldn't over my shoulder as I ran to find Zero.

I ran through the woods, following his tracks in the mud, hoping I would find him soon. I soon came upon the school's outdoor pool. Zero was kneeling, as if in pain, leaning against the railing.

"Zero! Zero, are you alright?" I yelled, trying to get his attention. He slowly looked up at me. As I neared him, I saw what was on the ground next to him. Blood tablets. "That's…you can't take them? You're not taking them?!" I asked him frantically, remembering stories I had heard about vampires rejecting the blood tablets and progressing to level E even faster.

Suddenly his hands were on my shoulders. He was breathing much too hard, his chest heaving. His hair was covering his eyes so that I couldn't see into them. "I've tried to drink them. I tried so many times," he rasped, barely able to get the words out because of his rapid breathing. Then he looked up at me, the hair in front of his eyes no longer obscuring my view of them.

They were blood red. His usual shade of pale lavender was gone. He just sat there, gripping my shoulders, breathing much too heavily and groaning as if in terrible pain. He shuddered, and I could see that he could no longer stop himself. He was going to drink my blood, unless I stopped him right now. I tried to reign in my fear.

"That hurts…Zero…" I said, my voice cracking in pain as he enclosed my entire body in his iron grip, tighter and tighter. I had to stop him. I raised my bracelet, preparing to immobilize him as I saw his fangs descend inches from my neck—

And we were in the air. I couldn't understand what had happened, but without warning cold water was all around me. I opened my eyes, realizing I was submerged in the pool, and found myself eye to eye with Zero underwater. The cold water seemed to bring him back, and his red eyes widened and faded back to lavender. Acting quickly, he grabbed ahold of me and used his powerful leg muscles to propel us up to the surface.

Gasping for air, I was silent only a second before I turned to him, about to ask him if he was alright. But then, the sound of a gunshot echoed around me and I stared in utter horror as Zero flew back from the impact, looking at his shoulder, which was spewing blood everywhere. I would have screamed if a voice hadn't started talking from right behind me, outside of the pool.

"I never thought I'd be killing my dear student with this gun," said the man. I turned, gasping as I looked up to see our ethics professor, Yagari was his name, staring hard at Zero, and pointing the gun at him. "Curse me with your last breath and die…vampire," he finished, readying the gun to shoot Zero. Zero slowly turned to look at him, whispering, "Master…"

As if unable to take it anymore, Zero seemed to curl into himself in pain. He was hunched over, shaking with his arms circling his chest. "Zero!" I yelled, panicked. I waded towards him, circling his body in my arms, trying to look at the wound of his shoulder.

"Even if it's just a graze, it probably hurts like hell. A spell was put on that bullet to kill vampires. Zero, even with your thirst for blood, do you still have a reason to brace yourself?" Yagari said harshly.

Zero flinched, his eyes widening, as if he had come to some realization. Then he closed his eyes, as if giving up. That was the one thing I would not allow. Moving fast, I put my arms around him tightly, holding his head gently to my chest and standing in front of him, protecting him from Yagari's gun.

"Mr. Yagari, listen. It's clear to me that you and Zero have a connection with each other that I don't know anything about. But I will not let you decide Zero's fate for him! I will NOT let you kill him!" I said, my voice rising at the end. I would protect him with my life if necessary, as he had protected me so many times, laying his own life on the line.

"Are you saying he isn't a level E yet?" Yagari asked, taunting me. I stared hard at him. I would not budge. One thing I was not willing to give up was Zero's life.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked questioningly at Zero, but all he said was "Yuki…it's ok." Shocked, I stared at him. Was he really giving up? Was he going to allow this man to take his life? As I stared at Zero, he stared back at me, his lips parted, and although there was a hardness in his gaze, steeling himself for death, there was something else in his eyes. Something so sad, I could barely look at him. Even if he didn't know it, I knew that deep in his heart, he didn't want to die. In his eyes, I could almost see the life he had envisioned for himself flashing before me. There was so much that he hadn't done yet, so much he hadn't experienced. He blinked, and the sadness was gone, only the hardness still remained in his eyes. Turning towards the gun aimed at his heart, he stared straight at Yagari. I was about to scream when someone else broke the silence.

"You took things too far! I thought there might be a problem, and look! This is a perfect example of why I hate vampire hunters. And how much longer are you going to keep a girl in cold water?!" the headmaster shouted at Yagari. He turned towards me. "You must be freezing. Here, grab my hand…or…not…" he trailed off as both Zero and I jumped out of the water without his aid. I stood up, facing Yagari.

"I wanna know now. Who are you?" I asked, my voice severe.

"When Zero was training to be a vampire hunter I was his mentor. Right…Zero?" he said, turning to Zero, who stopped in his tracks, looking down to cover his eyes with a veil of his dripping, silver hair. "It's true," he said softly. Yagari focused his attention on me once again.

"You really are the adopted daughter of that silly twit. Zero was about to attack you, yet you consider me as your enemy," he said, causing me to glare at him once again. Zero was not my enemy. Anyone who attempted to harm someone I held very dear was my enemy.

"I'll take over from here. Yuki, go back to the dorm," the headmaster said to me, giving me no choice but to leave Zero to the fate of these two men. I left slowly, glancing back to take a last look at Zero, in case it was the last look I ever got.

* * *

I was standing outside of the classroom, waiting for the night class session to get out. It had dragged on for almost an hour, and there was no sign that the class would be out any time soon. I just kept replaying the events of the day over and over in my head to pass the time, trying to think of some detail I had missed, something to save Zero.

After I had gone back to my dorm room, I had tried to be quiet since Yori was sleeping. I had sat on my bed crying for Zero. Though the headmaster had told me I didn't need to worry, I knew that if Zero couldn't take the blood tablets, his thirst for blood would just get worse. He would be a level E in no time if this kept up. I had spent the entire night trying to think of something.

This morning, he hadn't been in class, and he hadn't been at patrol in the evening either. Concerned, I had gone to his dorm only to find that he wasn't there. I had immediately suspected Yagari and gone to find him.

That was why I was waiting outside the classroom. I had found him about to go into the night classroom, apparently to teach the night class ethics. I had questioned him about Zero, only to find out he was quarantined, but Yagari would not tell me where he was. But I was going to find out.

I sighed, a little impatient. Although all I wanted was to be with Zero right now, I needed to know where he was before I could do that. I wasn't the only one who had noticed him missing. As Yagari had gone into the classroom, Kaname had walked past me, saying, "You know Yuki, I haven't seen Zero at all today. For his own good, you should reconsider your request. His place is in the night class."

It had seemed like he said it to taunt me. Although I understood that it was dangerous for Zero to be in a classroom full of humans, I still would not let him go transfer to the night class. That would not be good for him.

I just needed more time to think. What could I possibly do to help Zero? I was just a human. I couldn't understand what he was going through. I couldn't understand his need for blood or how it felt when his body rejected the blood tablets. What could stop him from turning to a level E, short of killing him?

As I was deep in thought, the door of the classroom opened, and Yagari stepped out, holding a book with a knife wedged into its front cover. I stared a little, but decided it was not important.

"You're still here?" Yagari asked me, clearly annoyed. Putting my hands to my hips, I looked right at him.

"I'm not moving from this spot until you tell me where it is you put Zero," I said stubbornly.

"Try as you may, there's nothing a _good_ girl like you can do for him now," he said, swooping down so his face was much too close to mine. The way he emphasized the word good…a good girl…what was he saying? Could he be hinting that if I were…not a good girl…if I did something…bad…so what could I do for him then? I felt as though the answer I was seeking was just out of my reach…

Then it hit me. I gasped lightly as a solution began to form in my head. I heard Yagari continuing his earlier speech, say, "But…if you still insist on seeing him, go right ahead. You can find him in the headmaster's guest room," he finished.

I bolted, heading straight to where Zero was being held. I knew what I needed to do, and nothing was going to stop me.


End file.
